Day 176 - Sunday (The suck):
This morning E and I took Finster for a walk around 930 or so. We walked about 2 miles round trip down Quinlin road to Kinney road (I think; I don't really know the names of the roads around my house). It was pretty hot, about 80ish and the sun was quite hot. Finster started slowing down at the last half mile. He was panting like it was nobody's business. When we got back to the house I went to the basement to get Finster down for some water. He made a b-line for the ditch to roll in it to cool off. In an attempt to stop him I went for the hose and called him, this got him turned around and back to me. I grabbed his collar and took him to the basement, I didn't want him all muddy in the basement. I gave him his food and water, both of which he ignored. He laid on his carpet for about 15 minutes just panting, eventually he got up and ate/drank. At 1115 we went to Ava's Christening and brunch.
After the brunch (around 4) we went to get me some new sandals and then to Erin's to pick up some store printouts. While we were there Sparky got his dewclaw bent all the way back, it ended up at a 90 degree angle with his paw, ouch. Erin called the vet and was told to snip it back so that it doesn't get caught. After Erin snipped it off E and I departed. We got home at around 630, so Finster was home alone for over 7 hours! There were no accidents but Finster did get hungry and helped himself to the rest of the food in the bag. I'm not sure how much that was, probably 2-3 cups, which is his usual lunch amount.
I tried to take him for a walk and made it to Quinlin road when it started raining. Finster and I sprinted back to the house and into the basement. The rest of the night was a wash, it pretty much rained the whole time. I played with Finster off and on and did some reading in the basement. I also started training him to never take something from my hand until I tell him to "Take". It's rude when you don't want him to take something, and he sometimes gets some skin when he snatches it. The training went decent, I think the hardest part will be for me to remember to reprimand him for taking something without my permission.