This week I got to spend time with Porter- all without leaving the comfort of my office or my chair. Not that spending time in Napa is a hardship. It's just that I can't always leave my job, especially considering I only have 2 vacation days left until May 2011 when my vacation time starts over again.
So, instead of flying to Oakland, renting a car, risking my life driving in rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon, all I had to do was click on a website and watch Porter, via web cam, as he ran around the playground at the Ruff Hotel in Napa. That's right. It's a doggy daycare, designed for those dog owners who want their dog to be able to spend quality time with other dogs in a supervised setting.
Jason said Porter now requires more running around time during the day so that he's not an unmanageable nightmare when he and Sarah come home at night (I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that's the general idea). I felt a bit smug after he told me that because I like to think in some small way I'm responsible for Porter's new exercise regimen and it goes back to all the walks we took when I was there. I'm sure that's not the case and, more likely, it's because he's a growing boy that just needs more exercise.
Now, he gets to spend one day a week at the Ruff Hotel, running to his heart's content with the rest of the pack and I get to watch all of his escapades via web cam.
It wasn't difficult for me to pick Porter out of the pack. He was the big, lumbering dog that was constantly terrorizing the other more laid back dogs, trying to incite them to get up and play with him. I swear, that dog was constantly in motion the entire time I watched him. He didn't stop for a minute.
I got an email from Jason this past Thursday, to let me know I could tune in for further adventures of Porter that day. I brought up the web cam and there he was again. This time, he was running with two other Labs and it made me chuckle to think that there are even cliques at a doggy daycare.
So now, thanks to the Internet, I'll be able to get my weekly Porter fix. And the best part? I won't even get drool on my shoes.
