[From an e-mail to Nicole from Kathy who has laryngitis.]

Nicole-

Feeding Clyde

He eats twice a day, just like Charlie. His food cup is kept in his food

bin. You’ll see a black magic marker line inside the cup. Give him 2 cups

of food (filled to just UNDER the aforementioned line) at each meal.

Our one big problem with him that we are working on is he guards his food

when he eats. Just pet him once when you tell him he can have it (he will

not be wagging his tail) and then let him be until he is done. Just don’t

touch him while he eats. He will be a good boy while waiting for his food

and will be very thankful to you when he’s finished.

He can eat after you have eaten.

Outside Time

Clyde will wake you up sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 wanting to go

outside. He’ll lead you to the front door, but let him out the back door.

Make sure his radio collar is on and you can leave him outside for an hour

or so as long as he doesn’t bark. (He usually doesn’t bark even when that

idiot beagle is going crazy out back.)

You may want to sleep in our room since his bed is in there and that is

normal for him. When you shut off all the lights, etc., he will follow you

up. Just be sure to let him out before going to bed. You may have to coax

him in with a cookie because he likes to hang out outside when it is cool.

Let him go outside at least 2 other times during the day. If he stands by

the door make sure to let him out.

Clyde Miscellany

He has a new brown bear that he is very proud of. That is the only stuffed

animal he has and the only one he should be playing with.

Do not play tug of war with him or any other games that could get out of

hand. Clyde’s sweet and cute and fun and big and he gets out of control

fast!

If you leave him for any length of time there are 2 things you can do

before leaving. One is to make a peanut butter bone for him. He has one

bone that is about the length of your hand. You can get a knife-full of

peanut butter and coat a thin layer on the inside of the bone. He loves

this treat and I give it to him when I have to leave for awhile. Just don’t

double dip the peanut butter knife into the family peanut butter. He has

his own jar of the stuff. I’ll try to remember to put his name on it.

The other thing you can do is put him on the deck with the gate locked and

the screen door propped open. Make sure that gate is shut and locked

closed! If you’ll be gone no more than 2 hours, you can leave a family room

window open, too, and he’ll probably just come inside and rest.

If I can get to the store, I will buy some new bones for him and you could

give him one of those.

Other pets

Feed the fish 15 grains of food on Saturday and Monday.

Refresh the bird’s food on Saturday and Monday.

Household Miscellany

Please bring the trash out to the curb before 9:00 Monday morning.

The mail and paper will continue service. I’ll have someone leave

Thursday’s and Friday’s in a bin on the porch, so you can bring that in.

I’m not sure what to do about food for you. I don’t want stuff to go bad,

but you are welcome to anything in the fridge or pantry. I bought a bunch

of frozen meals if you want that. I’ll leave some money on the counter for

food, too.

The pool key is hanging on the key holder. It is the one with the yellow

floatie key ring.

Keep my cell and dad’s cell numbers with you 678-640-1111 (me) and

770-639-2222 (dad). You should still be able to reach us. We also have the

important phone numbers underneath the kitchen phone.

Dad will send detailed directions to Ted’s. Do you have Ted’s phone number?

I still can’t really talk, but please e-mail me so I know you’ve received

this. Are there any phone numbers we can have should we need to reach you,

like Gwynne’s?

xoxoxo- Mom