Biggie—Year Six—Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

This has been an interesting year.  In a couple of previous posts I’ve talked about moving away from my home of 20 years, as well as Biggie’s mom also moving away.  It meant at the time the probability of never seeing Biggie again.  However, a few last moment changes in moving plans left us only 12 miles apart, and I get to have Biggie over for visits on a regular basis. 

Right now Biggie is doing one of his favorite things—he is asleep on our sofa, and I’ll let him stay there as long as he desires.  He used to take over my chair, so I gave up and started sitting on the sofa.  Now he is taking over the sofa, and I’ve been relegated back to my old chair.  This little guy is 10 years old now, and in a few months he will be 11.  His age is beginning to show, but then again, so is my age.  But this doesn’t stop us from having fun.

My wife and I live just a short drive from a coffee shop overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and it is a peaceful location where one can relax and enjoy getting hyper on caffeine spiked with sugar.  The outdoor patio is a perfect place to bring a dog, and the coffee shop will serve dogs a cup of whipped cream if requested.  Biggie knows this.  And there is more.  They know Biggie and will often bring him his whipped cream BEFORE it is requested. 

We had Biggie in the car with us one day, and I mentioned getting a cup of coffee.  Biggie went crazy.  He was jumping all over us with excitement.  My idea was to go to another place closer to where we were driving, but Biggie had his own thoughts on the matter.

As I drove past the turn that would take us to the coffee shop by the ocean, Biggie started barking uncontrollably at me.  At first I didn’t understand he was telling me I missed the turn.  I pulled into the nearby place I had in mind, but Biggie was whining and refused to get out of the car.  We decided to drive around a bit more to calm him down, and as I again drove past the turn to the coffee shop by the ocean, Biggie started barking once more.  That’s when I decided to just drive on over to the coffee shop at the overlook.  Biggie’s barking stopped, but he stood on my wife’s lap with his tail wagging out of control.

When we pulled into the parking lot, Biggie was again wild with excitement.  We hooked up his leash, and he almost dragged my wife over to the patio while I made our coffee purchase and requested a cup of whipped cream for Biggie.  I looked towards the back door of the shop exiting onto the patio, and there stood Biggie with his two front paws on the door’s glass looking in at me (tail wagging, of course).  Oh, what a happy dog!  All of this was a result of simply mentioning to my wife that I wanted a cup of coffee.

Also, near where we live, and well within Biggie walking distance, is a take-out restaurant specializing in chicken wings.  The first time we brought Biggie over to our new home, we drove by this restaurant, and Biggie’s nose went into overtime sniffing.  He couldn’t see it, but he managed to calculate its location and distance from our home.  When I took him for his first walk from our home, Biggie walked straight to the restaurant.  Even though it was closed at the time, Biggie placed his paws on the door glass and started barking for them to open.

This chicken wing restaurant is a chain with many locations.  I asked his mom if he had ever been to one in the past, but she assured me he had never been to one.  Still, on each and every walk, Biggie wanted chicken wings. 

One afternoon we drove to a nearby outdoor shopping center, and while my wife was shopping, I gave Biggie a walk.  He seemed to be determined to walk the length of the mall without stopping, and when we reached the last storefront, I realized it was another of these chicken wing restaurants.  It was everything I could do to prevent him from dragging me in there.  His nose knows.

I actually would love to treat Biggie to chicken wings (sans bones of course), but he is allergic to chicken.  Bummer.  Maybe the big attraction is the desire for forbidden delicacies.  I understand this.  I love peanut butter, but I can’t have it even in small quantities.  So I guess I understand Biggie on this point.

Well, in spite of moving away, Biggie continues to be a large part of my life.  We recently had him over for a visit of several weeks, and I was glad to return him to his mom.  (The advantages of having a part-time dog.)  The problem is though, as soon as he goes home, I start to miss him.  At least he is still a part of my life.