Golden Showers

When I only had Chandler around the house life was easy. He was just one dog who was fed twice a day, walked three times a day, and he only barked when absolutely necessary. On that day Sasha walked into our life (because I left the back door open), I figured "What's another dog? I'll just do a little more, and it'll be fine." So I agreed to take her from my tenants, who were fostering her.

First of all there is the feeding. It didn't take me long to figure out that I needed to feed them in separate rooms secured by a strong latch, or Sasha would soon wither away. Chandler has a way of intimidating other animals into giving up their food. Then there was the question how much do I feed Sasha. I have never had a small dog before. My way of feeding Chandler was to throw a scoop of dog food into his bowl and let him have at it. Sasha, I found out, needed to be coaxed into eating actual dog food, so I started to mix in a little of whatever Mark had left on his dinner plate. This led to the realization that once Sasha started eating, she would not stop until she blew up like an over inflated football. I'm still working on how much to feed her. I hope I get it right soon, because it is a little embarrassing when people point out the rolls of fat on her back.

As for walking the two dogs, at first I tried walking them together. Sasha, it turned out was a barker and constantly was challenging other dogs she came upon. This in turn riled up Chandler, who would lunge at the offending dogs, dislocating my arm, and scaring the crap out of everyone else. So I now walk each dog separately, three times a day, one half a mile around the long block. That's six walks totaling three miles. It can be inconvenient, but it's worth it to save my arm, and assure peace among the neighborhood dogs. Besides, for some reason when I walked them together, Sasha would invariably end up standing under Chandler as he lifted his leg. Now I almost always get her home safe and dry.