So this last week, Neil went out of town, and needed someone to take care of his Chihuahua, Diego, for the week. I love Diego, and have been wanting a dog for the past year or two so I was happy to take care of him while Neil was in Chicago.
It all started on Monday when Diego and I dropped Neil off at LAX and we were on our way back to my place. Deegs likes to sit in the driver's lap, and look around, and I wasn't used to this just yet, but there was no stopping him, so in my lap he sat, looking out the window and smiling at me because he got his way. I'm just glad we were stuck in traffic.
At home, I had toys for him, treats, his leash, etc. The first thing we did was play for a little bit with 'Freckles' and after getting some work done, it was time for our daily walk. There's a great park just a block from my place so we took a lap around the park and then walked around the block before coming back to my place. Our first visit to the park took a little longer than it did the rest of the week because he was in unfamiliar territory, smelling everything, watching the kids play in the baseball field, watching the people on the tennis courts, and of course, checking out cute girls. Diego is really well trained, so the only reason I kept him on his leash in the park was to keep him moving, otherwise, he would sit down and just stare at me as I walked down the path, but once we got onto the sidewalk, I could take it off because he enjoyed the freedom and would stay close by. He was constantly complimented, how cute he was, what was his name, he's so well-behaved...
It was nice to have a little snuggle buddy on the couch, even though he dictated how I sat so that he could nestle into a specific spot, I was glad to have him there. His favorite thing about sitting on the couch was having my purple blanket to bury himself in. I watched him the other day for 2 minutes straight, moving, digging, burying himself into the right spot on the blanket, while still being covered but able to see everything around him. Apparently, this was an art form that he had been working on for years, because he did that when he slept in my bed too.
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| Deegs & Freckles |
Every morning he'd wake up with me around 9 am, yup, he slept in till 9 with me, but knew I needed 10 minutes to just lay awake and think about my day, so he'd come and snuggle in right by my shoulder and lay his head on my arm until I was ready to get up. Then we'd take a short walk outside to start our day, play for a little bit, and then have Breakfast. We got into our routine quite easily and taking our walks together was probably the hi-light of my day! During play-time we could throw 'Freckles' or 'Elephante' for 20 minutes without stopping. He'd get all excited and drop one of them in front of me and I knew it was time. If I didn't pick the toy up fast enough, he'd pick it up and drop it closer to me, and if I didn't pick it up then, he'd speak so I knew he was ready. He's just such a fun little creature.
Now, I had to work at Karaoke on Wednesday and Friday for 5 hours, and Bartend at Irish Times on Thursday for 8 hours, and had an Audition on Friday morning in Palos Verdes, and I couldn't believe how hard it was to say goodbye to him. I would find myself wondering what he was doing, was he drinking and eating, was he playing, where was he sitting? Before I left, I'd put him on top of the couch so he could look down around the apartment and be the King while I was gone and as soon as he heard my key turning in the lock he was right at the door, waiting to give me kisses and play. Because I was working a bunch this week, when it came time for Game Night with my girls up in The Valley on Thursday night, he was my Buddy and definitely coming with me. There were a couple other well-behaved dogs, but just as Neil said, Diego would be a snob, because he was a 'human' and was better than they were. He sat by my side all night, but he wasn't any help with Balderdash ;)
Needless to say, this week absolutely flew by and I was so sad to see little Digalo go home on Saturday night. As difficult as it was, hiding him, because we're not supposed to have dogs at our Apartment, and he'd bark making it even more difficult, as much as he would lick me and be a little trouble-maker, I love that little man so much. I love all his little quirks and nuances, his excitement for the simple things like taking a walk, playing, or laying on the couch, how smart he is, and how much love he gives and happy he makes me. I can't wait for our next adventure together <3
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