Feel Like Complaining

I love taking care of so many different breeds. We were really excited to welcome a Jack Russell into our home. Dottie is nine, so she's not overly hyper like the young ones are. She got dropped off at 4:00 and whined until bedtime. She slept with The Kid the first night and barked a lot during the night due to hearing different sounds. Nobody slept real well that night. She does have her issues, like hating other dogs, kids, and cats. That's why many board with me, because I only have one dog at a time. Most of that reason is for our own sanity though. Her Dad was so nervous and wasn't sure about about her staying though. They usually board her at the vet where she is kept in a cage all night with no company, and she won't eat. Really, which would you choose? So his wife is the one that initiated the stay and we vetoed the vet idea. She got less anxious each day and we enjoyed walking her. The only issue is that when she does see a dog, she goes bat shit crazy! She...

Last weekend through Wednesday I spent 4 days in a nice country setting. The weather wasn't the best, a bit on the cool and rainy side but we did take advantage of the great outdoors when it was good. I kept the TV off until night and had the door open so I could hear all of the birds. Three dogs take their morning walk down the lane to get the paper. Two little dogs on one leash in one hand, and a ball launcher in the other hand for the bigger dog. The newspaper under the arm on the way back all takes a lot of coordination. I have never used a ball launcher before, but boy can they fly. And so does Daisy the cattle dog. I have never seen a dog run so fast for a ball. In the afternoons we would go behind the house and launch more balls for her, and the little ones have a pile of toys to play with. I call this the toy boneyard. They stay out here for all seasons, some are even partially buried when the grass takes over. Daisy, Tuxedo, Cairo, Ruffie and Tazzie The two...

.....Lola usually gets. She breaks into bedrooms to steal socks, underwear, rubber balls, and whatever she can get her mouth wrapped around. She is a two year old Goldendoodle that has absolutely no training at all. None. She doesn't even know the basics of 'Sit'. Oh she's adorable alright, but wild as can be. It was really a lot of work to watch her last week. Hubby and I tried to walk her the first day. We had to first wrestle her in a harness which she thought was just a game. Then we put on two leashes, one for each of us. She pulls and weaves and it took all we had to get back home safely. That was the only walk she had. She couldn't be let free in the yard and thank goodness her family had a tie out cable we could hook her up to. I am definitely going to invest in one of those. She chases birds and will eat anything she can find in the yard. She jumps, bites, and plays too hard. Then I got to thinking back to when Nellie was that age. Although she had...

This is Loddy, the girl who was listed as a German Shepherd. I could see a bit of that I guess but she's cute nonetheless. She only stayed one night, this past Friday. I admit I was nervous because she was quite skittish when we first met  her. Once her family left, she whined for about 4 hours. It got less and less as time passed and she started to relax. By bedtime she slept through the night without bothering anyone. After I let her out in the morning, she was feeling more at home and totally pulled the stuffing out of a toy and destroyed two more. Nellie used to pull stuffing, not to eat, just to pull it all out. I had one toy I kept mending and mending until it became a round ball. I would save the squeaker to put in each new remodeled toy. I'll make a new little square toy with the stuffing and squeaker we saved from this one. We all see a little bit of Nellie in every dog we get, so it makes them all special. Loddy came up to my chair and stuck her head in-betwee...

This past week has been pretty slow on the dog front, but things seem to be picking up now. The company I work with is called DogVacay. There is another one called Rover. Rover just took over DV and they will be merging soon. I couldn't get a straight answer on the timeline of the occurring so I joined Rover too. Many sitters do both, depending on how busy they want to be. I got my first request from Rover after only 3 days, had a meet and greet last Thursday, and will be watching the most adorable teddy bear of a dog (Goldendoodle) next week. We are so excited! The day after she leaves I will do a 4 night stay in a log cabin on 5 acres with 3 dogs and 2 cats. A few weeks ago I woke up with a sore right foot, with no reasoning on how it happened. The top felt like it had been stepped on by a horse and the pain radiated down the entire inside edge to the toe. I told my Mom it might be Arthritis or I'mtoofatitis. But still that day I did about 2 hours of yard work which was a...