No One Died

Although I sure that Alvin thought it was touch and go for a while.  I gave Alvin his fancy new hair cut this past weekend.  It took HOURS and a couple doses of sedatives but we got through it.  It is so unfortunate that his fur grows at a particularly fast rate and it is naturally curly so it mats up easily.  It gets more problematic due to his complete freak out at being brushed.  I have concluded that I am going to have to keep his fur short, which means us both biting the bullet and enduring the grooming horrors more frequently.  I could tell that getting all that fur off of him made him feel better.  Due to the thickness of his fur, I convinced myself that he had to weigh less when it was all gone, to the point that I actually weighed him but, nope, he's still fat. 

We started our "walks" with Gracie in a harness and Alvin looping into oblivion.  It would make a lot more sense and be far easier to take Gracie out by herself but I just can't keep leaving Alvin out.  He sees us leave three times a week to physical therapy and that in itself is enough to break my heart. The option of taking one at a time is kind of out because Gracie cries like I have shot her when I leave her out of something.  So off we go and we have outdone ourselves in the village idiot category.  Gracie wants to go faster than she should and so when I pull back on her she turns around and starts biting on the harness and/or starts walking sideways.  Meanwhile, Alvin doesn't know what in the world to make of the harness and so he reacts by looping us all down the road.  Honestly, we look like idiots.  Well, actually I look like an idiot and they look like my victims.  My mom recently managed to break both of her feet but she hobbles out on her porch to watch the whole show because it's a must-see.  I am only trying to figure out how to put her in a harness and "walk" her as well.  I will eventually get my mom to video it so you can all laugh and claim to have no idea who the crazy youtube lady is.

We all went over to my mom's house because she has stairs leading up to her front door and the physical therapist wants me to do an exercise with Gracie on stairs.  All by darned if Gracie didn't make it up the stairs just fine while poor Alvin managed to fall off and land in a bush.  I had to rescue him while he sat there dazed and terribly confused.  I was confused too because they are the same stairs he has walked up hundreds of times, but apparently climbing them next to a girl in a harness can really throw a guy for a loop.

For the past couple nights, Alvin and Gracie have spent periods of time sleeping next to each other on the bed.  Alvin gets a very obvious look about him, which is comprised of confidence and contentment.  He genuinely looks more confident and he is never the one to move away. 

He is continuing to adjust to life with Gracie in the house.  Like I mentioned before, I have extended his bedtime routine so that he gets more one-on-one attention.  I am grateful to Gracie who allows us to have the time without getting jealous and butting in.  I have also started making it a point several times a day to sit on the floor with him while scratching and praising him.  He has responded by being much more affectionate and often reaching up to lick my nose.  I think he realizes he has competition and has started to up his game.  Whatever works because it just makes my day when those huge Alvin eyes look up at me and he gives me a little kiss.  It's not all bliss because as you all know, Alvin gets his tongue mixed up and so sometimes I get a kiss from the underneath part of his tongue and sometimes he misses and licks my eye.  I just keep saying, progress not perfection.