Life With LuLu – Gold Star Recipient

Posted: March 16, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Life With LuLu | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

For all you've done this week LuLu!

It’s early morning here along the river. The sun has no expectation to entertain the idea of brightening our morning skies and even if she could I suspect the weather channel is once again correct … MORE BLEEPIN’ RAIN. The weather patterns matter very little to our LuLu – I suspect she could sleep through the worst of it though and even though her temperament is slow and steady I want to reward her this morning.

LuLu’s mom (Bonnie) has been out of the house the last few days with a stay at the hospital and both Logan and I feel these two have missed each other terribly. Monday was a truly long day for the Lu-dog. We left at oh-dark-thirty and our arrival home was well past the aurora’s setting. What precious gifts would LuLu have left for us? That and a number of other questions raced through our minds as we neared town only to find our bundle of bulldog resting oh so comfortably in her bed – and look – no surprises!!

Last night was no different though we did adjust her schedule a bit. Yesterday afternoon Logan and I were like two house burglars. We opened the door, put on a pot of coffee, grabbed Mom’s pillow, a nice shirt from her closet, her cell phone charger, some magazines, some mail, poured the coffee into a thermos, fed LuLu, let her out and like a flash – we were on our way back to the hospital. Two nights in a row she was a saint, and last night she had more energy than Logan and I have ever seen in her. She appeared to be in a great mood … and still no stinkies on the deck! Nice.

I’ve talked about LuLu with my coworkers – all men – and they all tell me dogs can sense the caution in the air. One minute we’re discussing the dangers of the radiation exposure in Japan and the phone rings … next we’re talking about motorcycles, baseball, the Supreme Court or any other such thing. Lots of random conversations but none that really have a beginning, middle or end so I don’t really know what to think when it comes to knowledge on how our pets react when a loved one is feeling ill.

This morning, directly after my cell phone told me what time it was I could hear LuLu downstairs prancing around. “Okay then” I thought … I stepped downstairs to find our well framed bully standing by the back door awaiting my arrival. Nice!

She was treated to a nice breakfast, a fresh bowl of H2O and with the weather warm enough to leave the back door open – she followed suit and retreated to the confines of the back yard. A nice way to start the day … and won’t she be surprised to see Bonnie come home today!! Yes – I’ll be heading to Marin General to pick up our recovering patient this morning where these two will be reunited with each other right about lunch time.

Gold stars to LuLu for all her cooperation when we desperately needed it. She’s walking up the stairs into the house right now after fetching the treat Logan offered to her just moments ago … and we’re back in bed. Some things just never change – and I truly hope they don’t.

Love you LuLu!

Peace,

Papa

© P.E. Cheney and Life With LuLu, 2010-2011.  All Rights Reserved.

Life With LuLu – A Dog Day Afternoon

Posted: March 8, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Laughter, Life With LuLu | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments

LuLu plans on giving up walks for Lent ... 🙂

The weather this Fat Tuesday afternoon is perfectly Northern Californian today.  I sneaked out of work an hour early because I knew my wife was doing pretty much the same thing … SPRING FEVER HAS ARRIVED!! Years ago while living along the big muddy Fat Tuesday would have meant an entirely different reason for getting out of work early. All the ladies were downtown enjoying time with each other while the Lu-dog and I enjoyed our own time as the valley winds began to blow as they normally do just before 5:PM.  My first summer here I wore a sweater into town just about every evening and when last call was announced and the walk to the house was the next move I was fortunate for having that “always ready” attribute.

When the ladies came home their attention went straight to LuLu who was watching Ocean’s 11 with me, Logan grabbed the leash and out into the splendid remainder of the afternoon the three went.  They were gone for quite some time and I was happy our college sophomore, home for Spring Break was spending some “q” time with our bundle of bulldog.

It’s funny – while they were gone I pictured them walking with LuLu all over the neighborhood, down along the river, into the park, saying hello to the neighbors who were also out enjoying the day.  While I was creating the dessert for the evening these picturesque thoughts filled my heart with happiness … until reality opened the door.

LuLu and the ladies were at the back door calling for me.  The back gate is a little tricky and required my assistance.  Stairs are not LuLu’s favorite activity so she takes the back yard route.  When everyone had settled in I wanted so much for my thoughts to be confirmed.  “You guys were out for a while – where did you go?” … “Dad – we walked into the park and we’ve been there the entire time.” 😦 …

Even though they didn’t go for the marathon bullies are hardly known for – they did spend some great time in the park, and the bonus of having LuLu with you is you know one thing is for sure – she’ll never RUN AWAY on a sprint.  Just impossible.  So no matter how they spend their time with each other it’s safe to say … time spent together cannot be replaced — dogs, friends, family … no matter.

Another good day here in the house with our LuLu.  She’s sitting right here next to me as she does just about every evening.  The ladies do get a little jealous but LuLu and I just laugh together.

Hope you do too.

Peace,

Papa

P.S. For those of you local Petalumans who have been waiting for my spot in the Bloggers 360 column of the Press Democrat – all I can tell you is this: SO AM I!  I’ve placed two calls into their busy editor and I’ve been assured a spot – so it’s like we said in the military; “hurry up and wait.”   You’ll all be the first to know when it really does go viral.


© P.E. Cheney and Life With LuLu, 2010-2011. All Rights Reserved.

Life With LuLu – Some Observations

Posted: February 13, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Life With LuLu | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

"It's all goooooood"

It’s late morning here along the river, children and their parents playing in the park across the street, dogs fetching frisbees and the aurora is gracing us with her presence before the next three days of rain arrive.  LuLu had company all weekend with a beautiful little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Molly.  The two of them were wonderful for each other.  Initially Lu-dog showed some signs of jealousy when Molly arrived but that soon waned and the weekend was spent without an upsetting event.

In the last blog we read about LuLu’s stress factor from attending the Bulldog Show in Sacramento two weeks ago and after watching LuLu this morning I really think there’s some unfortunate events from her past still in her random access.  LuLu was in the garage this morning wanting to cross the street where I was waiting and as she proceeded she heard a dog bark from the neighboring park and it stopped her in her tracks.  I’ve said it before that I’d rather not know her history but I truly think we’re learning more about her through observation each and every day.  We can only imagine what her yesteryears were like.

She’s stopped peeing in the house (YAY!) and there’s been nary a bit of her excessive panting later this week and none this weekend while she hosted her new friend from San Jose.  So things are looking good.  We know we spoil her and don’t walk her often enough to help her shed the few pounds she’s taken on since her arrival in Chez Cheney and as the weather starts to turn to our advantage we’ll be putting in a fence in the front yard so she can have the entire back & front yard to romp in – in very short order.

Bonnie and I do appreciate all the comments we received regarding her recent slip-ups in the house – so we thought this catch up blog would help you know she’s better and back to her old self.

While outside with her this morning I was gathering some thoughts about the new blog I’ll be writing for the Press Democrat.  Initially the game plan was to reblog some older posts but that has changed.  I’m thinking … new beginnings = new blogs.  I can’t wait!

That’s all for now.  Again – thank you for your concerns.  LuLu thanks you.

Peace

Papa

Life With LuLu – Sharing the Rain

Posted: January 30, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Life With LuLu | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The house here is set up so the laundry facilities are in the garage.  There’s a small set of steps leading into the garage which I’ve refurnished and carpeted since moving in.  I was at the bottom of the steps yesterday with the garage door open watching and listening to the rains of northern California when I see LuLu started to negotiate the descent from the kitchen.

Normally when we take her for a walk she has three options when leaving the house; back steps (1), porch steps (5), garage steps (5), oddly enough she normally grooves for the garage steps, but we “help” her along with a soft reminder from behind.  The steps have not yet been a real struggle for her, but at the bottom of these steps sits Bonnie’s car and should her inertia kick in during her descent it’s going to be a serious case of dog vs. parked car.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was just about done with the laundry because I know how hard a decision it is for her to even consider the steps without a leash or a human with her.  She soft stepped each of them right onto the garage floor as if she was trained at the Arthur Murray School of Dance. So once down I grabbed my empty beer cooler and we sat at the end of the driveway/garage watching the world go by.  LuLu receives a great number of waves and hellos from behind the glass of the cars that travel past, though as you’ve probably read in previous blogs; she acknowledges few.

We sat there for an hour yesterday wrapping up a couple loads of laundry, she visited her old kennel and we watched the low pressure system hang over the Petaluma River for the remainder of the day and well into the night.

She climbed the stairs into the kitchen without issue and headed right for her bed.

Countdown to Sacramento: 6 days!

Peace,

Paul

© P.E. Cheney and Life With LuLu, 2010-2011

Life With LuLu – Where’s the Hangover?

Posted: December 26, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Life With LuLu | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lo & Lu! Christmas 2010

LuLu and I walked the river bank this morning without any issues other than her own stubbornness. (did you know that word is spelled with two nn’s?) Lu is most definitely a house dog, one that will, and does take great pleasure in camping out in front of the door completely sprawled out in full-snore mode.  When the leash, complete with a jingling Christmas ornament is pulled down and placed in front of her, entire support or show of enthusiasm is totally underwhelming, but … with some patience, a quick sniff from Lu’s tremendously large snout turns even the mundane into a possible adventure.

One wish this morning was to have a camera to capture the fog coming off the river and under the overpass creating an almost Vermont-in-the-woods look to this picturesque setting here in sleepy little Petaluma.  I haven’t owned a camera in nearly twenty years so I just add that picture to the thousands of undeveloped photos stored in the random access memory of my balding hat rack.  To have LuLu along for the walk was the highlight of the day.

Speaking of the highlight of the day … let’s talk about the post excitement associated with the Christmas holiday.  Bonnie and I stocked up on beer and wine as we normally do, yet this year the only company we had in Chez Cheney was LuLu herself.   Oddly neither of us imbibed at all and waking up without the fog associated with holiday parties of years gone by it may indicate a path heading in the right direction.  Perhaps the beer is being saved for the PATS/Bills game later today? Of course if the PATS win they become the AFC Champions (again) … I know, I know … that’s even a stretch for me.  I know, it’s not like it’s going to go bad, right?

Plans today? Football.  Well – those are my plans.

Remember there are three girls in this house, and something tells me (a very educated guess is about to follow) that the NFL schedule is not a part of theirs.

Details (as always to follow).

LuLu sends her love.

Peace,

Papa

Life With Lulu – Pampered and Proud

Posted: November 21, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Life With LuLu | Tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments

Our walk this morning was fascinating.  The full moon at the north end of the river made being there with Logan all that much more special.  The full moons here are truly spectacular.  The Canadian geese this morning seemed to be the only ones out-of-place as they were flying north, and making quite the racket while doing so. Do they realize it’s November?

LuLu is still outside, even after a delightfully long walk.  It was nice being out there with Logan this morning – she learns my routes with LuLu and I hear about the peculiarities surrounding LuLu when she walks her.

Unsure what is on tap for today.  A traditional New England pot roast in the slow cooker, which would have normally been consumed yesterday if not for the Chinese food delivery which replaced it on the menu. 🙂  The storms yesterday brought in a ton of rain and an unusual light show not normally seen in this part of the country.  We enjoyed watching the black clouds roll in from the coast yesterday and oddly enough the thunder had no effect on LuLu which was nice to witness.

"Hi Tom, how's the weather?"

Several photos were taken yesterday of LuLu – many of them are now screen savers on all our respective cell phones, but the best photos taken yesterday had to be the ones of Logan dressing LuLu in a yellow rain jacket.  LuLu showed tremendous patience during the entire event and we laughed as a whole family for the first time in a few months now that Taylor is here with us.

The one MUST game on today’s NFL schedule is the PATRIOTS hosting the Colts at 1:15 PST.  New England pot roast and the New England Patriots – now there’s a winning combination.  Details to follow.

Papa

Life with Lulu

Posted: October 27, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Day Five

I sense a rather strong connection being created between man and animal this morning.  It all started with hearing LuLu in her bed, scratching the floor as if to say “YO! Little help here …” so after looking at the time on my cell phone and realizing that thirty minutes earlier than normal is not all that bad I rose as well.  The fun started when I missed the bottom two steps, crashed to the hardwood and almost ate the kitchen table with my grill.  No laughter from LuLu, though I should expect some later from our youngest when she learns of her old man’s pratfalls.

Right outside she went this morning, and hustled back inside for the morning meal allowing Pops some time to conjur up a cup of coffee, get my bearings, rub my knee a little and grab a sweater as the temperatures here in NoCal have dropped Duluth-like.

Walking with LuLu this morning was most enjoyable. Our walk down the river was interrupted by something she sensed and I did not argue or contend her wishes to move any further down that unlit walkway.  I concurred with her judgment and turned things around, back up the ramp to where a bench resides for the children who play in the park during the day.  Our walk was only half of what it normally is, though I believe she’s building quite a sensory inventory during these walks.

I admitted earlier something about building a stronger connection with LuLu.  When all was said and done this morning and she made the climb up the stairs into the house as if she was ascending to the peak at Everest without a sherpa … tongue in cheek humor … anyway, we’re inside and just relaxing with each other and I started rubbing her down around her head and neck area.  After a momentary pause she pushed her head down under my hands as if to say “Pops, you’re not finished yet, and I’m enjoying this!”, so this continued and as I explained to her the World Series was starting tonight she began to emit a little gutteral groan as if to show her appreciation for the rubdown.  One I don’t believe she’s received in quite some time.

I made lunches for the rest of the family and realized my wife would not be able to meet me for lunch today so I left my lunch in the fridge where I will pick things up this afternoon and have lunch with LuLu a little later today.

Until then …

Papa