Feel Like Complaining

Last week was pretty uneventful, thankfully. I took Max to the vet for a follow-up and he's doing fine. They still can't figure out what happened to him to cause it. I still blame his brother. The family watched Miss Kirby Sue for just one night. She's a 9 year old Tibetan Spaniel and her owners got her from Craigslist about a year ago. I'm glad it turned out for them; some animals probably don't fare as well. I went home to see her picked up by her parents. They were real happy and said they would use us again. We get to meet our first Doberman tomorrow for a possible stay in January. Tori is owned by a woman from church who reached out through FB. I remember when Dobies were thought of like Pitties are now. And we will have Winnie back with us through Christmas. We're halfway through the busiest time of the year and haven't cracked yet! I got home yesterday from my loooonnnnggg sitting job. I was bragging because I hadn't had to shovel any snow ...

Last Monday afternoon when I got back to my sitting job from a day at my Mom's, I looked at this guy Max's face and though he looked funny but couldn't figure out why. He recently had a blocked pp and was put strictly on canned food so he has lost weight. But still his face bugged me..... I didn't sleep well and knowing his parents are out of the country and most of the time unreachable. I was pretty much on my own for any decision I make. The next morning I called his vet and they got me in pretty quickly. He had facial swelling and a lump under his chin. I blamed the other cat who is mean and probably swatted him. I had to leave him so they could get in there and take a look. I left a message for his owner and he was able to call me back and then called the vet for info. When I picked him up in the afternoon, they were mystified because there was just fluid, no infection or cancer present. He was given an antibiotic and some steroids. I'll have to take...

Last week didn't turn out as crazy as it was going to be. One meeting was cancelled, the concert was cancelled,  and I cancelled my dentist appointment. It took 8 full weeks for the first phase of my implant to finally feel OK. I was really second guessing that decision. Now I'm 5 days into my 21 day sitting job away from home. At least I'll get some good walking in. I've lost 10 lbs. since I was here last, that gave me a good head start. Sasha remembers me for 2 walks a day and playing out in the yard. She remembers so well, that she was barking at 2:30 one morning to go out.....to play. Oh no little girl, I am the boss here.  Now that most of the trees have been leveled for more homes, I can actually see the planes take off/land; they are that close to the airport. And I can hear them too, all day and night, big and small. Thankfully I have earplugs for bed. And at least before the houses are built, there are some beautiful sunsets. The morning after I left, ...

We had this elderly couple (9 and 13) with us over Thanksgiving; they fit right in with us. Other than the little guy thinking he needed to mark in the house, they were really good, and I was happy to have little ones to give some turkey to. My husband got very spoiled by having lap dogs to keep him company. We put our tree up and made turkey stock on Saturday before they went home. Sunday we finished decorating, did some laundry, then took leftovers over to my Mom for another turkey dinner. Today I work for her and we go to a concert tonight. Tomorrow we have a meeting at home for two dogs. Wednesday evening I head out for my 21 day sitting job. Thursday I come back into town for another meeting and go to the dentist. Then back to my Mom's on Friday. It will probably be that crazy until after Christmas. Somewhere in there I need to shop so all of us will have food while I'm gone and do my packing. Frankly, I'm so busy I don't think I even have time to finish th...

Our little Beau left Saturday and we were sure ready for a break. He was a sweet little guy but wanted  demanded to play ball outside at least three times a day. Walks would not suffice; I tried. He would spin around on his leash totally twisting it up. Plus, he would pull and weave. His owner highly suggested that we just play ball since it's his most favorite thing in the world. He might be back in January......eesh. I love playing with dogs, I really do. But it's hard with real obsessive ones that are only interested in one thing. Our next two will be here tonight and I'm a bit nervous. We first met them in June and even though we thought we'd have time to meet up again, it just didn't happen. One is quite anxious but we have heard that before and things turned out fine, so keeping fingers crossed. My husband and I went shopping for Christmas gifts for our grandsons yesterday. I usually have things ordered by now but just didn't get around to it. I can...

This little guy Beau arrived last Wednesday so his Mom could go to Mexico for 10 days. It was amazing that her days fit exactly with what I had available. She has used Rover before but her little boy seems to do better alone and not with a group of dogs. The last sitter she used who boards more dogs at a time, had a German Shepherd of her own who bit Beau right in the head. So needless to say she wanted to find another home who only takes one dog. I'm really happy that I can fill that need for people. He's a 9 year old Miniature Australian Shepherd with lots of energy. He's got one blue eye and one wonky one. And I do mean wonky. His eyeball is rotated in the socket and although he can see, it's only a sliver from the bottom. Basically when you look at him, you are looking at part of the back of the eye. It kind of gives me the willies and it looks painful, but it doesn't seem to bother him. His owner warned us about his talent for food thievery. He can hu...

The Little Princesses And we have come to the last Bella of the month. She's a very shy 8 year old Fox Terrier mix. She came from an abusive situation and cowers a lot when approached. We gave her space and slowly she came around and became so much fun to play with. Sometimes two dogs can either be double trouble or twice as fun. We got lucky! Oh, and this was the family that after our meeting, did not book right away. They were supposed to see another sitter but that person rescheduled. So although it took her a few weeks, she did book it. Plus, within an hour of picking them up she gave me a 5 star review! That taught me not to judge the outcome of a meeting prematurely. Gigi is an almost two year old Chug (Chihuahua/Pug mix). She's the tiniest licorice drop and smaller than the fat cat I'm taking care of. She had so much energy and loved to race around the house and chase Bella. We really got paid to be entertained! Last Thursday I had my dentist appointment to h...