The Story of BB the Great Dane

It’s finally over–Thursday, Nov 6, 2008, my brother left! It was a total of 34 weeks as of Thursday, eight and a half months, and now we have our home to ourselves. BB doesn’t have to deal with a small child in his home every few days, so we’re expecting him to continue calming down.

The poor pup has had diarrhea for a couple days, likely from a toy that was full of treats to find inside. Bless his heart, Sunday morning he made a huge mess of himself and his bed. I got him cleaned up and the bed too, mopping the floors and washing carpet runners. This morning (Monday) his stools were still a bit too loose, but he didn’t have any accidents in the house since Sunday morning.

Little Beebs has been much calmer overall since my brother left, maybe because we are calmer. Partly, at least. He and Mom are settling into a routine, with more playtime in it! You can see above, BB having a grand time with his soft ball in the kitchen. Our four pack doesn’t meet up until breakfast, lunch, and evenings in front of the tube, so there is plenty of BB play going on!

Mornings for BB are spent following Mom around as she does laundry, makes her bed, dusts, or anything else that she needs to do. She’s gone for a couple hours on MWF, then it’s bouncing around in the laundry piles, or chasing a toy she tossed. Afternoons are a nap with Mom, then getting some more play in before Kenai and I appear to make supper.

Meals are still trouble time for Beebs, since he makes a pest of himself around the table. He hasn’t gotten the idea of leaving people alone when they eat. He’s getting better about it, but oh how hard it is for a boy! He wants to play and have attention all the time, not to mention stuff smells good.

We’re all still transitioning back to the four pack days, and working out what schedule works best for us. But it’s indescribably wonderful to totally relax again–no one comes and goes but us, so we dont’ have to listen and anticipate BB’s reactions. We don’t have to hurry through breakfast to get BB out of the house when he’s not handling the kiddie invasion well. I am free to leave him alone in his pen when Kenai and I have something to do.

It’s just relaxed around here again!! Yay!

The cold snap has kept BB from going in the car much, but I’m hoping to stash him in the hatch Thursday for a stop at Melba’s house. Some puppy games with Chloe the lab would peg his happy meter! It’s sad that he can’t play with his brother, the rough and tumble thug of the house. Kenai just gets too rough, and BB gets nasty when he’s losing. Boys…

That will be worked on over the coming winter.

I’m looking forward to the days when the boys can be loose and unsupervised, just hanging out and walking around together, playing a game of tug or keep away without the fussing. We’ll get there.