Holiday Blues
Maybe Sirius and I bonded so well because we're both slaves to routine. Or maybe it's because I feed him, walk him, and give him treats, but the former seems a more romantic notion - an owner and dog with common interests. Whatever the case, he definitely does live by an internal clock that is inviolate. The fall rollback of daylight savings was indeed a nightmare for several days for both of us as a result. And I think it's safe to say that Thanksgiving, for Sirius, was about the same.
First came the chaos of Wednesday night. After a full day of work, there was a full night of baking and prep work until midnight to get ready for Thursday. That, in and of itself, was not too upsetting - the dogs predictably lurked nearby hoping for some byproduct of all that baking, but the only thing they could have eaten really - pumpkin - was mixed with sugar and spices, so it was out of contention. They remained disappointed.
Then comes the big day - Turkey Day! Just as we were about to take them on their walk, Baby H woke up, and the day started and never stopped until bedtime. So, morning walk denied, and all those smells coming from the kitchen and none for a poor, hungry pup! What torture! The worst part was when the humans all sat in the mystery room the dogs are not allowed to go in to partake of all those wonderful smells! Bad, bad humans!
Friday started at 3:20 in the morning for me when I woke to a migraine. I've been a chronic migraine sufferer since the age of 10 - one of the reasons that routine reigns supreme for me. Anything out of the ordinary: change in diet, change in weather, lack of sleep, and so on will kick one into gear. Fortunately I no longer get them the twice or more a week, but unfortunately whenever I have had and still have them, my dogs have to suffer too. Sirius loyally stayed with me until I drug myself out of bed to watch the Penguins (lose), but he had a boring day as a result.
Finally, yesterday, I gathered myself up to put up the holiday decorations. Worse day yet for poor Sirius - it was so obvious. Even the holiday "veterans" Geddy and Rooney are dubious of all the chaos of furniture moving, things being unpacked and then re-packed, and me going to and fro like a perpetual motion machine. Finally, they just planted themselves on the couch and decided to sleep until it was all over. Sirius, however, tried hard to keep pace. He followed me from room to room and back again. I'm a touch ADD - another reason that I have to adhere to routine slavishly - so there is no rhyme or reason to how I decorate for the holidays because I can't focus on one thing at a time. Whatever comes out of the box gets dealt with. And this is only our second year in the house, and the first year where we've got a crawling, grabbing, curious human baby, so everything has to be re-thought with that in mind anyway.
Trying to let the dogs outside to play to relieve them from all that mess was useless because the neighbors had their little dog out all day (probably for the same reason) and of course my chatty dogs just ran over to the fence line and barked incessantly at him. So back in they all came, and back to trying to keep up with me went Sirius.
Finally, at some point in the afternoon, he just gave up with a heavy sigh and stayed planted in the basement by himself and refused to come back up no matter how sweetly I coaxed. He was officially over this whole human holiday mess.
Today's been much better. They got to spend a lot of time outside running and playing and, yes, occasionally, barking! We're back to a normal weekend routine. Well except for the big tree in the living room, that is. Ironically, we were worried about baby and puppy and tree all combined, but Sirius could care less. I think for him it's a symbol of the disruption of routine, and he's choosing to ignore it. My Job No. 1 today is to not ignore him, and make sure he knows holidays aren't all about humans, they are about our four legged angels too. And so, with that, I'm off to get that party started.
Happy Holidays everyone!
First came the chaos of Wednesday night. After a full day of work, there was a full night of baking and prep work until midnight to get ready for Thursday. That, in and of itself, was not too upsetting - the dogs predictably lurked nearby hoping for some byproduct of all that baking, but the only thing they could have eaten really - pumpkin - was mixed with sugar and spices, so it was out of contention. They remained disappointed.
Then comes the big day - Turkey Day! Just as we were about to take them on their walk, Baby H woke up, and the day started and never stopped until bedtime. So, morning walk denied, and all those smells coming from the kitchen and none for a poor, hungry pup! What torture! The worst part was when the humans all sat in the mystery room the dogs are not allowed to go in to partake of all those wonderful smells! Bad, bad humans!
Friday started at 3:20 in the morning for me when I woke to a migraine. I've been a chronic migraine sufferer since the age of 10 - one of the reasons that routine reigns supreme for me. Anything out of the ordinary: change in diet, change in weather, lack of sleep, and so on will kick one into gear. Fortunately I no longer get them the twice or more a week, but unfortunately whenever I have had and still have them, my dogs have to suffer too. Sirius loyally stayed with me until I drug myself out of bed to watch the Penguins (lose), but he had a boring day as a result.
Finally, yesterday, I gathered myself up to put up the holiday decorations. Worse day yet for poor Sirius - it was so obvious. Even the holiday "veterans" Geddy and Rooney are dubious of all the chaos of furniture moving, things being unpacked and then re-packed, and me going to and fro like a perpetual motion machine. Finally, they just planted themselves on the couch and decided to sleep until it was all over. Sirius, however, tried hard to keep pace. He followed me from room to room and back again. I'm a touch ADD - another reason that I have to adhere to routine slavishly - so there is no rhyme or reason to how I decorate for the holidays because I can't focus on one thing at a time. Whatever comes out of the box gets dealt with. And this is only our second year in the house, and the first year where we've got a crawling, grabbing, curious human baby, so everything has to be re-thought with that in mind anyway.Trying to let the dogs outside to play to relieve them from all that mess was useless because the neighbors had their little dog out all day (probably for the same reason) and of course my chatty dogs just ran over to the fence line and barked incessantly at him. So back in they all came, and back to trying to keep up with me went Sirius.
Today's been much better. They got to spend a lot of time outside running and playing and, yes, occasionally, barking! We're back to a normal weekend routine. Well except for the big tree in the living room, that is. Ironically, we were worried about baby and puppy and tree all combined, but Sirius could care less. I think for him it's a symbol of the disruption of routine, and he's choosing to ignore it. My Job No. 1 today is to not ignore him, and make sure he knows holidays aren't all about humans, they are about our four legged angels too. And so, with that, I'm off to get that party started.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Our dogs are not crazy about this time of year either. We know we will not have as much time with our pups during the next few weeks so we try to make it quality time.
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