Owned by Pugs

Thursday, July 16, 2015

On the Lanai

Henry

Each afternoon when Grammy leaves for the day, it is always a high anxiety time for us at work. We never know if Henry is going to stressed out until we come home or if he is going to stay calm until we can get home from work. Some days he is perfectly fine. Other days he melts down (some days on the early side and other days not until one of us is closer to home). On Henry's super good afternoons, though, he will make his rounds to gobble the goodies that Grammy leaves for him. First, it is the small handful of cereal that Grammy leaves in a bowl near the water bowl. Next, he usually chomps the chewy stick that Grammy leaves on his bed. And finally, he will finish off the trio of treats by licking out all the peanut butter in the kong left on the shag rug in the living room.

After he's downed his goodies, on his good days, he typically will settle near the front door (to "watch" for us to drive up---we are pretty sure he notices reflections from the sun as we come into the driveway) OR he will settle by the laundry room door in hopes of hearing the garage door go up when we arrive home. Which sometimes he does hear and other times he has not noticed. Obviously, this is all just speculation as to what he is THINKING but that that is what it seems.

On Henry's WONDERFUL days, though, Henry will be a relaxed boy and fall back into his Henry pattern of going out into the yard and soaking in some rays and occasionally he will then hang out on the lanai. As we were watching him on camera one day, we snapped a photo from the ipad. (This was the type of picture where you take a photo of your screen. So, it was like a screen shot of what was going on.) But you can see that Henry is awake and alert but not melting down. He is outside on the lanai and still paying attention to the front door. Cupid, however, who is not far behind Henry is completely relaxed and may not even realize that Henry is so close to her. But since he is not facing her way, he's fine in her book. (For now!)

I think we have finally reached the midway point with Henry and maybe it is at last tipping towards the good side. We seem to be having slightly more better days than rocky days. I say that, but many a morning we have had to call Grammy to the house considerably earlier than her shift time. (Fortunately, while she is a busy woman, she is not too busy for Henry!) But I still think he is getting better. It would be terrific, however, to have one full week of no meltdowns (AM or PM). I hope in time we will eventually get there. We live life at Henry's pace and that is slow & steady.


Comment Page 1 of 1 pages

Steve Lindhurt

07/17/2015

We hope and pray for Henry every day.

sue wooding

07/17/2015

we all have good days and bad days it is good that Henry is having more good days he has gone through so much in the last year and he is Henry strong

Sleighbelle

07/17/2015

Not anything about this story I don’t love!!  So happy Henry is getting his groove back and also happy that Henry’s people can breathe a little easier (most days).
#HenryRocksItLikeAPug

Joyce Joy

07/17/2015

OBP land…you are such wonderful parents to Henry.  I’m so glad to hear that he has made progress.  Here’s to a week of NO meltdowns!!  Have a great weekend.

Christie Sachde

07/17/2015

Slow and steady will still get you there…keep your eye on the prize:)

chuckie

07/17/2015

Looks pretty nice there. Relaxing in style. If you gave him a nice cool piƱa colada, I bet he wouldn’t have any more meltdowns smile

Gina

07/17/2015

I love that QP is hanging with her brother. I bet she secretly takes care of him to make sure he is ok.

I have a nosey question: Does Henry have access to outside outside? Like the grass in the back yard or is it just to sit on the lanai. Is that enclosed? I always worry about unwanted critters in the grass. Just me being nosey.

Heather

07/17/2015

#OBPGRAMMYROCKS

Henry I love you!!!

brenda cooper

07/17/2015

Nothing wrong with slow and steady. My life is that way now and things still get done. So glad Henry has more good days than bad. He is so blessed to have such wonderful parents and a Grammy that lives close enough to come check on him and leave him treats. What more could a puggie ask for????

grammy

07/17/2015

chuckie…pina colada…what a great idea…is 11:00 a.m. too early for a happy hour? (for me, not Henry LOL)
Just askin’....

chuckie

07/17/2015

I like where you’re coming from, grammy! You’re taking good care of Henry, so you get to do whatever you want!

Sue VDB and Annie Fannie

07/20/2015

I can certainly appreciate Henry.  I don’t have any anxiety problems, but some days I can do more than other days when I get very little accomplished. 

Henry has a built in timer.  I know this because when my husband could no longer work, he would tell me about Bo Peep anticipating my return home from work.  Every day at 4 p.m., she would sit by the door leading to the garage and wait for me to come in around 4:20 p.m. She just knew. 

With Henry, I am sure he has the same sense of time, but because of all his trauma, there are days he wants your return home to come quickly, and thank goodness for Grammy.

Oh, and Grammy, it is 5 o’clock somewhere.

Corrine - OBP

07/20/2015

Hi Gina
We don’t mind you (or anyone) asking questions.  smile  Yes, Henry does have FULL access.  That includes to the fenced in yard.  Not just the lanai which is a screened in enclosure.  We, too, worried about critters.  And that was not all we worried about.  But it was with much thought, consideration and weighing of pros and cons that we have somewhat begrudgingly allowed Henry to go from fully protected (crate) to WAY less protected.  This is something that if we think about it too much will make us a little batty but in the long run we know the rewards outweigh the likely risks for Henry’s sake.

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