DAY TWELVE

They took Easy today. His owners are back and they want their dog. The house seems too quiet. To think that just last night (at midnight), Easy was barking at a wind storm.

Morgan says that it's probably best that Easy is no longer with Seska since they had started working together.

6 Things we loved about Easy:
-The way that he would seek out the squeaker in a plush toy and squeak it over and over with his big nose.
-The way that he forced us to exercise, really exercise, every day. He needed to exercise and he made sure we knew it. It wasn't just, "Take me out before I pee on the floor."
-The way that he would get so excited while playing in the park that he would bite his leash.
-The way he would wait outside my bedroom door every morning and give me a heart attack when I opened the door and came face to face with this giant dog in the dim light.
-The way he would run up and wedge his head and shoulders between my legs so I was sort of riding him. Somehow that was comforting for him.
-The way he wanted to be present and listen to bedtime stories.

We love you Easy. Come back on your next vacation!

DAY ELEVEN

When I told Morgan that Marghi was coming to pick up Easy tomorrow, she said we should go to www.thankyoumarghi.com. I assume that means thank you for letting us borrow your dog and not thank you for taking him away.

She also made up a song, to the tune of "The Start of Something New" from High School Musical:
Oh, it's the start / Of something old
It feels so wrong / To be with that dog
It almost rhymes.

This isn't to say that Morgan is down on Easy, but the Bad Dog Incidents really have gone up.

Exhibit A: There was another peeing accident but I have reason to believe that Seska was behind it.

Exhibit B: I went to run an errand today and forgot something so immediately ran back into the house. I thought it was strange that Easy didn't greet me at the door. There he was near the kitchen, poised over a baggie of crackers that he had pulled down from the kitchen counter.

Exhibit C: On a walk along the waterfront, I turned around to tell Morgan, for the 400th time, to stop pretending to be a butterfly and keep up already. Easy took the opportunity to scramble down the stone embankment to try to jump in the Bay. Another 10 seconds and he would have been a salty sea dog.

Exhibit D! Morgan had made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and left the knives on the counter. Some dog (Easy) managed to pull them down and he and Seska were going over them, spreading peanut butter all over the floor. It is as if they are working together.

I know, we need to stop leaving edible stuff out on our kitchen counter.

Today we bought Easy 2 new minty tennis balls and a squeaky plush toy. He promptly destroyed the first tennis ball and had fun with the plush toy in the park. He immediately knew these were dog toys when we walked in with them.

Tussles: The dogs are thick as thieves, or as wolves. Easy did manage to chase the cat twice.

Treats after begging: He got a ravioli that fell on the floor and also some cheddar cheese.

Success using the dog door: It's still down! What chance does he have?

DAY TEN

Having 2 dogs currently, I try to be objective and fair. If something bad happens, I try not to assign blame to one without looking at all the evidence. Like today. I was out much of the day and the dog door was not up. Although they both went out this morning, it is not surprising that one of them might have an peeing accident in the house. In the middle of Seska's bed. Apparently twice.

Luckily it was her old bed, the electrically heated one.

Morgan found another way to get Easy to lick her: She pretends to be Easy's puppy. She says that Easy is the daddy dog and Seska is her mommy dog, if you can imagine that one. She curls up to Easy making whimpering sounds and generally hangs all over him. I finally told her to leave the poor dog alone but he was very good with her, just licking her a lot.

Easy definitely knows the word "Walk". I like how he runs over and bites the leash when he hears the word.

Tussles: Seska is pretty smart now and plays hard to get with Easy. Easy now follows her around, confused. He's such a guy.

Treats after begging: Taco meat. I still don't know how it happened. I think he hypnotized me.

Success using the dog door: Who needs a dog door when you've got Seska's bed right there?

DAY NINE

Morgan and I played a game called "What Can We Get Easy to Wear While He Begs for Ice Cream?" The feather boa was easy (no pun intended). He was surprisingly resistant to the tiara, the devil horns and the angel halo. He's just glamorous.

After a good run at the park, we started throwing sticks and Easy went into puppy hyperdrive. This is on the long, retractable leash that we use for Seska. He started running in wide, wild circles and Morgan almost got caught in the vortex.

On the way back from the park, Morgan came up with last names for Easy:
Easy Albert
Easy Carmine
Easy OutRun (She thinks she can outrun him. She cannot but he does come up against the limit of the retractable leash.)

Then she came up with other names like Seska ChongChong and Blankie CryBaby, about a random blanket on her bed. She went to bed tonight chanting "Easy Carmine and Blankie CryBaby". I don't know where she is getting these gangster names.

Easy is jumpy tonight. There is plastic sheeting on all the windows of our house because the painters were here today. It constantly sounds like someone is breaking in. Easy keeps barking wildly and then looking embarrassed. He is committed to protecting this house now.

Tussles: None with pets but he may kill the painters.

Treats from begging: None, not even ice cream. He is still in trouble over the chocolate incident.

Success using the dog door: He is barking to come in.

DAY EIGHT

Today I entered the house to find candy containers strewn around. Seska was hovered over a nearly empty -- and ripped up -- See's candy box. Another empty candy box was in the living room. I pieced together that someone had opened the pantry door and helped themselves to a basket of candy, including 2 partial boxes of chocolate.

This was very unlike Seska, so we did a sniff test. Seska's snout smelled like...dog breath. Easy's snout smelled like...dog breath and chocolate!

It's a serious problem for a dog to eat chocolate so I immediately called the vet. I had to try to describe Easy and how many bon-bons were missing and whether they were dark or light chocolate. I think he ate 3 bon-bons. After consulting with the vet, they came back and told me that he should be fine due to his enormous size but expect him to be bouncing off the walls for the day.

We are keeping an eye on him in case he has any reaction. The main reaction I've seen is that he has gotten more assertive about begging. He actually barked at me while I was fixing some food (for myself) today. I think he is fed up with the treat scarcity. He is also eyeing the pantry again and Wes is concerned about the refrigerator. There is chocolate syrup in there.

Tonight's bedtime book was about ballet dancing. Easy rolled on his back wildly, making howling noises. Then he fell asleep.

Tussles: The uneasy peace continues. Seska thinks Easy is great. Easy thinks Seska needs to back up.

Treats after begging: Some chicken chunks in the morning and self-service dessert at noon.

Success using the dog door: N/A -- we had to take the dog door down today but it will be back up soon.

DAY SEVEN

People who haven't seen him may not appreciate how large Easy is. The picture shows him on a couch that fits at least 3 adults. Stem to stern, he is about 3'6" from the base of his tail to the tip of his nose. His height is 2'6", approximately. He was afraid of the tape measure and wouldn't hold still.

Today we were walking and some sprinklers came on, blocking our path. I figured that Easy's paws were already muddy, so we would run through the sprinklers. He ran up to the edge of the spray and then veered wildly. I kept running with my forward momentum, so I got wet and he didn't. I don't think he is devious, just not very considerate.

Easy seems to have totally adjusted to our family by now. He thinks he is our dog. That is how long it takes for a dog to switch allegiance. Seven days.

Marghi said something about her brother-in-law Kian taking Easy for the second week. We're not sure how that is going to work. We are certainly not going to call him. If he calls here, we may deny having Easy, or any dog, really. In fact, Kian must have the wrong number.

Tonight at bedtime story time, Easy seemed disturbed by the book. It involved a bear that gets chased away by a vampire.

Tussles: Friendlier and friendlier. I'm hoping the dogs will start playing together. The cat is still quarantined.

Treats after begging: Only any popcorn that fell on the floor.

Success using the dog door: What's a dog door?

DAY SIX

Today Easy got to meet some other dogs in the neighborhood.

Easy has a way of getting underfoot in the kitchen. We were imagining a new Top Chef challenge of cooking with 2 dogs in the kitchen, both trying to bump you so you will drop treats.

Even though Easy hasn't been getting the big handouts that he got earlier in this vacation, he has been burping a lot. Possibly he has indigestion from some of the toys. He has been tearing the innards from several dog toys and hopefully not eating them. Possibly he has been finding edible tidbits on the floor. The cleaners came today, so those happy days are over -- at least until Morgan's next meal.

Easy got brushed today. Somehow that ended up in me covered in dog hair.

Toys destroyed: 2 including the blue tennis ball (3 counting the cat toy)

Tussles: He still tenses up when Seska sniffs but no fighting. Seska waits for him to eat first, chew up her toys first, etc. He is clearly alpha.

Treats after begging: Cheddar cheese and whatever he managed to scrounge.

Success using the dog door: Nope.