A miserable bulldog, stuck inside the house all day...
We've been home from camp for 3 weeks already and I'm not sure that the bulldogs have fully adjusted. I was gone for 8 days volunteering at a camp in Michigan, so I missed most of their first week home (and the tantrums that go with the adjustment). My boyfriend Nate took excellent care of them, taking them to the park and spoiling them. My mom also spent a lot of time with them, taking several days off to spend dog sitting.
However, for the past few days (and what's looking like the rest of this week at least), the weather has been HOT. It was 100 degrees today with HIGH humidity. Anything over about 71 degrees is TOO HOT for a bulldog, but this weather is ridiculous! Every time I open the door to let them outside, the blast of heat feels like opening an oven door.
At 6:45am this morning, we went to the park, but it was already in the 80s, so we were only there for 10 minutes. It's too hot for them to even lay around outside, so right now, I have two miserable prisoners.
Tomorrow Olivia is going back to daycare and Grif is going to go with me to the office. I am hoping that both places are cool enough for them, otherwise, they are going to be stuck inside for the rest of the week....
The summer has come to an end and it is bittersweet as we leave camp and head home. Well, it is bittersweet for me as I love camp and I also love my life at home. I think it is just sort of bitter for Grif and Liv as they would choose camp life 100% of the time.
They love the constant attention, play times every few hours, going to the beach, hanging out in the office or out with the kids, roasted marshmallows, exploring the woods, chasing the bunnies that live right outside of my house, lazy days lounging in the sun, and then falling into bed, completely exhausted at the end of the day.
Here are some random camp pictures-
Griffin and Leilani had an "I love you"/ "I sorta wanna knock you down" type relationship
Olivia at camper break time. She likes to be in a populated area while she lounges.
Gaga is a super popular camp game. It's sort of like dodge ball, but you have to stay inside the octagon and can only hit people below the waist. If you get hit, you are out. Whoever is left standing at the end, wins. Griffin and Olivia can't be around the gaga pit because they desperately want to pop the ball.
Attempting to get in and "play"- we had to keep reminding him to get down.
He circled the gaga pit several times.
And then the ball flew out and it was a race to get it first. Grif won this round and gaga was over...
Tired after a long day.
This is how we wake up every morning. Olivia likes to be spooned while she sleeps. She sleeps with the covers up to her chin and her head on the pillow.
In the morning, I get up, run, shower, go to the dining hall for breakfast, and then come back to find bullies still completely asleep.
Griffin loves the small round cones that we use for field games. Whenever we go to the field and the cones have been set out, Griffin ALWAYS "helps" re-arrange them. I'm sure Program Director Kayla really appreciates it...
I'm catching up on posts I meant to write but got too busy with summer craziness.
A few weeks ago, the whole Bulldog Brigade was reunited when Danny, Heather and Buddha came to camp for a visit! In an enclosed space (like a tiny camper), Griffin feels a strong urge to eat his cousin Buddha and Buddha feels the need to try to attack both of his cousins. They are all fine when they aren't in an enclosed space. But that meant that breakfast was a bit of a challenge...
But then we headed out to the field, down to the beach, and walked around camp and everyone was back to happy...
It was good to have all the roomies back together and get back to where this whole thing began- 3 dogs, 3 crazy owners and lots of adventures...
These pictures and videos are from a few weeks ago. The weather has been FABULOUS for the past 2 weeks- sunny, but breezy and 70s- perfect bulldog weather.
But 3 weeks ago, it was HOT. SUPER RIDICULOUSLY HOT! Bulldogs are VERY sensitive to heat, so Griffin and Olivia spent most of the week stuck inside. This summer our new camp house is air conditioned, which has been a huge improvement from last year (remember this?!).
However, as you might imagine, my very social dogs were pretty unhappy about captivity. They spent the week sighing dramatically and flopping down on the ground. They made sure I knew they were miserable.
I felt bad for them because they didn't get to play very much or hang out with the kids. But keeping your dog cool is important. Here is a great image that was posted on facebook. Those symptoms are a little bit difficult because Griffin is always panting and breathing hard, drooling, lethargic (in his case, I think it is lazy, but it looks the same!), and he rarely responds to commands...
Eventually though, they joined the kids for a nighttime swim. The photos make it look like it was the middle of the night and completely dark (it was definitely light enough for me to lifeguard safely).
The last time the went to the beach, Olivia looked like she was going to jump off the dock. She likes the water but is very cautious and has never done that, but she made me nervous, so when they came down this time, they had to wear their life jackets.
Here is a short video of Olivia lifeguarding-
Griffin sat just like this, just smashed into this camper's arms for, not kidding, 20 minutes. I think he was just in desperate need of extra affection to make up for his terrible neglect all week.
They survived the heat and have spent lots of time with campers since then, so don't feel too bad for these poor dogs...
We have an activity called CHAOS which stands for "counselors have another outstanding skill". Counselors get to teach a 1 hour activity that is different than regular activities. Some examples include- yoga, magic tricks, juggling, Swahili lessons, boat building, beat boxing, etc.
Yesterday I offered, "Griffin and Olivia Time" which was my way of tiring out my dogs and tiring out the children. We had 15 kids sign up for it.
For the first 20 minutes, it was Olivia and Grif chasing the ball with all of the kids chasing them. Once the bulldogs were tired enough that they stopped running, the remaining 35 minutes was a drawing contest to see who could draw the best picture of them.
Being the co-camp dogs is exhausting. On Saturday night, I stayed up a little later than usual chatting with Abby and Megan and the bulldogs were rather unhappy. Olivia sat on the stairs leading to my bedroom and glared at me. She wouldn't go to bed without me, but she was clearly ready for our guests to leave.
On the weekday mornings, I get up at 7am to run and Griffin and Olivia (who are already stretched out comfortably, taking up the majority of the bed), usually move to the pillow as soon as I leave. Often, I can't convince them to get out of bed before I leave for the dining hall, so I leave them in bed until after breakfast.
These poor overworked dogs probably need a raise or a vacation or something...
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