I'm tired!

It's been a little less than 24 hours and I sure hope this dog can settle down.  They say an old dog can't teach another old  dog new tricks, and this old dog isn't doing very well so far in teaching that old dog anything.  He is hard of hearing, which means he can get by with ignoring me if he likes.

He is extremely restless - walks from one room to another pretty much since I got him, with a few periods of sleep during the night.  When I walk from one side of the room to another, or into another room, he is right behind me.   I thought I had the small kitchen garbage can pretty well confined but he got into it during the night.

Just before sundown last night I took him for a short walk on the bike trail.  I have a key to the gate which opened it easily, but when I tried to get back into the Park the lock opened but I couldn't get my key out of the lock.  I heard a man working in an adjacent yard and he came and retrieved the key.  I just don't have the strength in my hands any more.  I put a brick to keep the gate from closing all the way this morning, but an elderly gentleman riding a motorized cart finagled to get through the gate and must have let it close.  He did get my key from the lock for me though.

I called the Park office and was told they would do something about the lock - they blame it on the homeless who find instructions on the internet to make their own keys to fit any lock.  That's an easy blame anyway.  There is a heavy duty lock and chain that is secured at night and I guess those homeless persons haven't figured it out yet.  

With a swish of the tail he knocked over some Irish china I had on one of the shelves below the TV, and I'm still trying to dogproof the place - easier to childproof it if you ask me.  

It is so difficult to eat in front of him because he sits right there looking and waiting the entire time.  I'm beginning to realized how much Lady spoiled me and was really easy to have around.  I think a male dog is more needy, but I'm hoping he will settle in.  I'll give him a week.   This morning I got up to go to the bathroom at least 2 hrs before my wake up time, but there was no use to going back to bed and trying to get a little more sleep.  I will definitely need a nap this afternoon.

I think I've decided on a good campground for next week, and already got and printed my fire permit from online.  (You need a fire permit if you use a gas powered stove, and mine uses a butane cannister.   I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to build a small campfire, and won't be too disappointed if I can't.)  It's at 7300 ft. elevation, and warm clothes are recommended.  I may see snow, although I don't think the entire state got much snow this past season.  I also did a MapQuest routing and printed it (in large print, of course).  I have a feeling my Garmin GPS is not going to work.  I get a message that the maps are out of date, but the entire set of maps can't be out of date - so why don't they just use the ones that still apply.  I'm sure they would prefer that I buy a new unit but I'm not having it.  The one I have is probably at least 3 yrs old and I like it as it is.  I'm sure a new one would have bells and whistles that I wouldn't need or want, and of course it will take a 10 year old to figure it out for me.  By the way, the last time I purchased an update for the Garmin I supposedly got free updates for life.  So the Garmin website didn't or couldn't send me the update - now what do I do.  I hate technology that is constantly being upgraded, and I'm not buying it!

I really want to work out this evening but wonder if I dare leave Bear for an hour.   I'm probably being over-cautious.

I find myself wondering what in the world I have done, but Bear is really a sweet dog and I hope we can work things out.  I need to do some serious work with training - just a few basic commands, but damn I'm tired and I hate having to go through that again.  It's why I didn't want a puppy! 


UPDATE:
I just woke up from a 2 hour nap, and I think Bear also had a 2 hour nap.  He's been moving around less, although I just caught him counter surfing in the kitchen.  When he was sleeping in the living room I snuck into the kitchen and ate my lunch standing at the counter.  He didn't even come running when I opened the fridge, and he just loves to stick his nose in there when I open the door.  I must have left some crumbs on the counter and he's just cleaning up after me.  I think it's going to work out ok in the end.