A Day in My Life — Sac-Be.com

Dad and I are a lot alike. We both do the same things every day. He always starts moving in bed just as the room gets a little lighter. That’s when I jump up on the bed and Mom lifts the covers so I can cuddle up and get warm. Then I can feel Dad reach for this thing that he likes to stare at. He calls it reading, and he does that for a bit then he sits up to put on his shorts. That’s when I’m ready to go. When he stands up, I jump off the bed and, if I time it just right, he opens the bedroom door and I just keep running. I love the morning before the sun comes up. You can see all the boats in the canal and hear the birds waking up. Dad opens all the glass doors, turns on the fans, eats some nuts and gives me one, then we put on my leash and our day begins.

Me checking the weather before my morning walk.

We head out to the street, walk a little ways down, across and back down the path to home. It’s short, but very important to see what’s going on. It’s very early - Dad tells people we get up around 6 – and usually I’m the only dog. But if we’re just a little bit later, I’ll get to bark at dogs I don’t know. We always see Sereques in the morning. They cross the street from one patch of jungle to another. I used to try to chase them, but being tied to Dad makes me too slow, so now we just kind of watch each other. But the most important part of this walk is to make sure all the dogs in the neighborhood know I was out first.

As soon as we get back home Dad starts water for coffee and then feeds me. My first meal is my wet food, sometimes mixed with what Mom and Dad ate the night before. I always know when I’m going to get a treat because Dad goes into the refrigerator a second time. I like chicken and shrimp and salmon and hamburger. Mom is the best cook, so I like pretty much everything. Once I finish breakfast I go back in the bedroom and lie on the bed with Mom, until Dad opens the door.

My next walk is my longest and most fun. If Mom goes, we walk into town to see the dolphins. If it’s just me and Dad, we go across the street to the park. There we walk on the paths to see if we can find Felix and Fender. They are my best dog friends, except for Chico, who I’ll talk about later. We can’t always find the big dogs, but when we do and when we’re way back in the park away from everything, Dad takes my leash off and I get to run. It’s very fun. Sometimes we play in the sand, Dad calls it the volleyball court. We all run around and then Fender will run me over and send me flying. But I get up and charge back at him and get on my back legs and bop him on the head. Fender’s a lot of fun because he really likes to run. But he also gets yelled at all the time. Sometimes he chases bikes and he’s always looking for food near where humans are building things. But I really like Felix, too. Greg and Genevieve (Greg is Fender’s Dad and Genevieve is Felix’s Mom} call him the “adult in the room.” They’re always telling me to be a “Felix” and not a “Fender.”

My second walk usually lasts a long time and when we get back I take a nap in the coolest place I can find. After I cool off I will either find a sunny patch of floor to lie on or I’ll go into my blue bed by the glass door in the bedroom. I pretty much sleep the rest of the morning. After Mom and Dad have their coffee and eat their breakfast they usually go out somewhere. Dad takes his long walk and always comes back very wet and thirsty. I’m not sure where Mom goes, but I hear her talking about people in the water. I think she taches humans to swim. I didn’t need anyone to teach me to swim. I just move my legs as fast as they’ll go to the nearest dry place. I don’t know why Mom and Dad like the water so much, but I think it's because they don’t have fur. I have a friend named Kuyo who doesn’t have any fur – humans called her a Xolo. When I see her again I’ll find out if she likes the water too.

My late morning walk is also pretty fun. First Dad and I play this game. He puts dry food in my bowl and then he puts my leash on. When he starts to pull me toward the door, I stop him and instead go to my bowl. I look at Dad and he looks at me. He drops the leash and tells me to “eat!” I look at him and sit by my bowl. When he reaches for the leash again I’ll take one piece of food and drop it on the floor. Then he’ll say, “OK, we’re going,” while bending down for the leash. That’s when I start eating, one piece at a time. I know Dad gets bored so when he wanders off I’ll stop eating and follow him. Then he’ll reach for my leash and we’ll start all over again. It’s really fun. Mom just shakes her head.

We don’t walk as far this time, especially in the summer because it’s too hot. So we just walk up the street to right by where Felix lives and then we turn around and walk back on the other side of the street. Dad walks pretty fast up the street and sometimes he’s very wet because he just finished his long walk that he takes while I sleep. But when we cross the street and head home, I slow us way down. This is the side of the street - actually it’s the other side of what they call the median – where more dogs walk, so there’s much more to smell and mark over. Also, there are big piles of rocks in the median where the iguanas live. So on the way back home we have to go slow so I can be on the lookout for iguanas. The smaller ones run and hide from me, but there’s one that Dad calls the “big boy,” he and I kind of stare at each other. After a stare-down he’ll climb a tree or go into his home under a rock. It’s a fun game we play.

During the afternoon I sleep. When it’s really hot Mom and Dad will lie in bed and read. When it’s not so hot they’ll go out in the boat with friends or go other places without me. But sometimes they let me come so I can have an adventure.

Later in the afternoon I have my dinner and Dad and I go for our last big walk. We almost always go to the park. We just walk halfway around by the golf practice area and back toward the pickleball courts. Sometimes on this walk we see Coatis. Dad says they travel with their family and they all sleep together in a different tree each night. We’ve seen them looking for a tree and we’ve also seen them all up in a tree making noise and getting comfortable. Dad calls it “pillow talk.” We also have a bunch of parrots. They’re usually on the other side of town, but sometimes they stay in the park. On this walk I walk very slow, watching and smelling everything. Dad keeps telling me not to stop every 3 feet. I’m not sure how much 3 feet is, but when he says it I want to stop even more.

Nighttime is quiet for me. First I help Mom cook by tasting stuff and then cleaning up. Mom and Dad always eat in front of TV and I don’t like the noise, so usually I go into the other bedroom and sleep until it’s time for bed. There are lots of pillows on that bed and I love to “make nests,” at least that’s what Mom calls it. To me, I just like to be comfortable. When it’s time for bed Dad and I go for one last walk. It’s just like the first one except there’s usually more going on in the street. I love to watch the people across the street at the restaurants. There’s usually a bunch of kids running around, people talking and sometimes music. Dad calls me “nosy” because I like to watch and listen. Some of our human friends call me chismodo. That’s someone who likes to listen to chisme (gossip).

When we get back home, Dad turns out the lights and calls “bedtime.” That’s when I follow him into the bedroom and hop in the laundry basket under the sink for my last sleep of the day.