I’m writing this week’s update because Mary was out of town last week for a meeting and Indy was left in charge of me while she was gone.
I took Mary to the airport on Sunday evening, we did our usual quick drop-off at the departures ramp at the airport and I came back home. As soon as I got to the door, Indy greeted me there – as he usually does when I come home – except rather than jumping on me, he pushed past me and started looking around the garage for Mary. He’s shown a strong tracking instinct in the past, and he sniffed around the cars to her door and looked back at me. I called him inside and reassured him that Mommy would be back in a couple of days and that I wouldn’t let him starve.
When I came back downstairs later in the evening, I found Indy laying at the laundry room door to the garage – presumably waiting for Mary to come back. He didn’t come upstairs with me for bed on Sunday night, usually he goes to bed at the same time we do and sleeps in his bed beside ours (at least for a little while). When I got up Monday morning, I found him on the living room couch curled up on the pillows where he had a view of the laundry room door. It kind of reminded me of my parents waiting up, sitting at the door, when I came home late as a teenager.
Indy was good and obedient, he went outside and did his business, and had his breakfast. No loss of appetite here (he is a Corgi, after all).
Monday night he came upstairs when I went to bed. Sometime around midnight I was awakened by him jumping into our bed and snuggling up against Mary’s pillow. As I drifted back off to sleep, I felt a Corgi snout under my hand – he pushed himself under my hand so I’d pet him. Which turned into him laying on his back for belly rubs. We both fell asleep like that and he left at some point in the night. I found him in the living room watching the laundry room door in the morning.
Indy was good-natured all week, but not overly energetic. He did not bring me Foxy (his favorite pelt of a toy) or frap around the house. He did eat all his food, go potty outside like a good boy, and demand treats for his obedience. He sang periodically – like when I wasn’t fast enough with his food preparation or he wanted me to come pet him.
When I picked Mary up from the airport a week later, Indy was pretty excited to see her when we got back home! He jumped on her and ran around. He demanded attention then came out to the garage to “herd” me inside. He came upstairs to bed with us, and we woke up in the morning to him jumping up in our bed to let us know it was time to feed the dog. Today, Indy seems to be back into his routine of supervising Mary’s activities around the house. I think he missed having purpose in his day since I have my own supervisor at work and couldn’t bring him with me.
Indy made sure that I did plenty of work around the house, though. He shedded on every floor surface in the house ensuring that I would have to vacuum thoroughly before Mommy came home.
In all, considering our little food-guarding incident from a couple of weeks ago, I felt like Indy and I fared pretty well together on our own. It was clear to me that he is pretty attached to Mary and really wants to have his family together. When Mary goes out of town again in a couple of weeks, I think I’ll take Indy with us in the car to the airport so he gets to say his goodbyes; maybe that’ll make it a little easier for him.
– Ben