Darma's Day

Darma has been living with us for almost 8 months! I can't believe what our lives are like without her anymore. Even though she wakes us up at 5:30 every morning, , chews her squeaky toy non-stop, and doesn't get along with any other dogs, we love her very much.

Her day starts at 5:30 in the morning. She starts whining because (I think) she gets hungry. We manage to ignore her until 6:00am and I finally give up and get up. I feed her and take her for a quick walk. Usually, Wil takes her for a long walk before he goes to work.

During the week, she patiently waits for me to come home at 5:00pm. She knows that my key chain has a bell, so whenever she hears the bell she is right at the door waiting for me. Usually, I take her for a walk when I come home. There is a bike trail right behind out apartment complex and Darma enjoys walking there. If we are lucky, we don't see any other dogs. If we see other dogs walking, we just have to hold the leash really tight and try to get her attention to something else. If that doesn't work, she just barks at the dog until it disappear from her view. (Boy, she is a pain!)

She eats her dinner at 6:00pm. Her tummy clock is so accurate that sometimes I wonder how she knows when a clock hits 6:00pm. Anyhow, when she starts whining, I feed her. Before I feed her, I ask her "are you hungry?" and she cocks her head. That's the cutest thing you ever seen!!

After the dinner, she usually begs for her rawhide bone. She loves it. I had to go to Costco and get big bags of rawhide bones every few months. She can eat one bone within an hour if we let her, but we take it away when she eats 1/3 of it. Then, she lays between us on the couch and takes a nap while we watch TV or read.

When we go to bed at night, she knows exactly where to be. Her bed is beside Wil, so she lays there for few minutes. Usually after the few minutes, she begs to come on the bed. If Wil says no to her, she comes around to my side and begs. She does this over and over and eventually one of us will give up and let her on the bed. Even we manage to get her off the bed when we go to sleep, she is up on the bed when we get up. And believe me, she takes 1/3 of the bed!

So this is Darma's day. I wish we could give her more space to run around, but maybe in the future. Darma is one of the 3 best dogs I know!

ダーマがうちに来てもう8ヶ月になります。今では、ダーマなしでの生活がどんなか想像もできない。たとえ毎朝ダーマに5時半に起こされても、ノンストップでキュッキュなるおもちゃかじってても、他の犬と全く相性があわなくても、私たちはダーマのことが大好きです。

ダーマの1日は5時半に始まります。（多分）お腹がすいて、ピーピー鳴きだすのです。何とか30分ダーマを無視するけど、大抵私は6時にあきらめて起きます。そして朝ごはんをあげて、短い散歩へ。大抵は、ウィルが仕事に行く前に長い散歩に行ってくれます。

平日は、ダーマは私が5時に帰ってくるのをひたすら待ってます。ダーマは、私の鍵に鈴がついてるのを知ってて、その鈴が聞こえるとドアの前で待っててくれます。かえってすぐ、ダーマと散歩へ。アパートの裏に、ウォーキングトレイルがあって、ダーマはそこを歩くのが大好き。運がいいと他の犬を見ないけど、そうでなければ綱をしっかり持って、ダーマの関心をそらすようにします。それがうまくいかなければ、ダーマはその犬が見えなくなるまで吼え続けます。

ダーマの夕飯は夕方6時。彼女の腹時計は本当に正確で、こっちが驚くくらい。ピーピー鳴きだしたころにご飯上げます。ご飯を上げる前に、”お腹すいた？”って聞くと、首をかしげるの！これがすっごくかわいいのです。

ご飯の後は、ダーマは骨を欲しがります。多分1時間くらいで全部を食べ終える勢いだけど、たいていは1/3たべたら取り上げます。そして、ソファーの上に来て私とウィルの間で昼寝するのです。

夜寝るときは、ダーマはどこにいるべきかよく分かってる！ダーマのベッドはウィルの脇にあって、そこに何分か横になるけど、数分後には私たちのベッドの上に来たいとピーピー言います。ウィルがNOというと、今度は私の側に来てピーピー言います。これを何度も繰り返すうちに、私かウィルのどっちかが諦めてダーマを私たちのベッドの上に来るのを許します。たとえダーマを彼女のベッドで寝させることに成功したとしても、私が朝起きるとダーマは私たちのベッドの上に。

これがダーマの1日。もっと走り回れるスペースがあればいいけど、それはきっと将来に。ダーマは、私が知ってる3匹のベストドッグのうちの1匹！