Wednesday Thursday

Marley's appetite has gotten better over the last few days.  He's now eating 2 full meals a day.  For awhile, he was barely eating one meal plus a few snacks, even with people food thrown in.  On Wednesday evening, we had Italian food delivered.  I mixed some small pieces of chicken and bread into Marley's regular food and he ate all of his dinner at once.

After dinner, I played ball with Marley in the living room.  A new Pet Central store opened on 2nd Avenue, about 4 blocks from our building.  Debbie went in there on Saturday and they gave her a little blue plastic ball with their logo & info on it.  Marley loves that ball, because it's small enough to fit comfortably in his mouth and it's very light, so it moves far & quickly when he pushes it.  He also crushes it in his mouth and it reinflates when he lets go.  He pushes the ball under the hutch and it either comes out another opening or it goes to the very back, and I have to get it.  When I get it, I try to deceive Marley about where it will reappear.

I took Marley out about 8:30 and we were out about a half hour.  We ran around the block and then we found 3 smaller dogs playing together.  Marley quickly joined the group and went from one dog to the other.  He played with Sandy Rose and another small brown dog for a few minutes.  He played longer with little Charlie (Boston Terrier, Beagle mix).

I took my shoes & sox off about 10:30 and went back into the living room to watch some TV.  Fifteen minutes later, Marley had to go out.  He did his business and we ran 3/4 of the way around the block, including up the hill on 41st.

Marley stirred early on Thursday morning.  He started whining before 5:30 and Debbie took him out after a couple of soft barks.  Thankfully, he didn't wake up the neighborhood.  Ten minutes later, they came back in and we all went back to sleep.

I got up at the regular time.  I fed Marley his breakfast and gave him a small bone stuffed with American cheese.  That's his morning treat.  I used to give him peanut butter and cream cheese, but the end result was too soft.  Marley played with the bone and ate the cheese slowly.  I made some instant coffee for myself - Debbie doesn't drink instant, and ate my breakfast.  Debbie got up when I left.

As soon as I stepped out of the building, the flurries started.  By the time my bus got to Madison Street (in Chinatown), there was an accumulation on the parked cars.  It was just warm enough for snow hitting the street and sidewalk to melt.  The flurries got heavier for awhile, but it was over before noon.

The temperature dropped throughout the day and Thursday evening was quite cold and windy.  I got home before 6:30 and quickly changed clothes.  Shortly after, I took Marley out and we ran to the dog run.  We stayed for over an hour, until I couldn't take the cold any longer.

At the run, Marley played with: Cody, a big fluffy bear of a dog, a little over 70 lbs.; Charlie, a collie-golden mix, about 50 lbs; Drake, a black lab, about 70 lbs; and Brooklyn, a small brown poodle, probably between 5 and 10 lbs.  All of the dogs played together, although most of the big dogs didn't spend much time with Brooklyn.  After Drake left, Marley played alternatingly with Cody and Charlie.  When Marley played with one, the other got jealous and barked at the two that were playing together.  Another instance of the 100% rule: "I want all the attention and I want you to only play with me."