Adventures in Doggie Sitting

My mom is on vacation and while she is away I have taken ownership of her dog, Liberty. We did a trial run in March just to make sure all parties involved adjusted to the arrangement. So I am now 5 days into her 11 day stay. And things are going pretty smoothly. But it is a change for me. I get up earlier so I can walk and feed her. I don't run errands after work so I can walk her again since she has been cooped up inside all day.


Since I live in an apartment and don't have my own yard, she can't go outside by herself. She is used to having a fenced-in backyard where she can run around and lay outside if she chooses. I walk her twice before going to work and 2 or 3 times between coming home and going to bed. Thankfully she does really well on a leash.


She can be a little demanding. If she wants something, she will hit you with her paw. She'll usually hit you on the leg because that is what she can reach. But this morning, I heard her hit my bed twice before 6 am. She was ready to go outside. I was not. We eventually went outside, but after 6 am. She may be demanding, but I am still the boss.


Overall, it has been a pleasant experience. I will miss her when she goes home with my mom. It is nice to see her so excited when I come home. I talk to her and pretend that she cares what I am saying. I had to run to the basement to change over my laundry after walking her and I asked her to wait for me. And when I came up she was sitting on the landing waiting just like I asked.


I do want a dog of my own, but I am still determining if I want the full-time responsibility. Time will tell, but for now I am good with my house guest.

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Dog's Best Friend

I am a dog lover. Although I do not have a dog of my own, I claim my mom's dog as mine and love her dearly.


Our last two family dogs have been from the humane society, so I have a soft spot for dogs that have had a, shall we say, colorful past. This story about Tanner, a blind Golden Retriever, is so sweet that I had to share it. You never know who is going to be your best friend.


Hope you enjoy.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/blind-pooch-gets-guide-dog.html

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Did you know...??

Ah, yes, the random things you learn as a pet owner. I’m sure we all have our interesting, funny and even horror stories about pet ownership, but in the end we have each learned something from the situation. In my life, I have been the proud owner of a number of animals, including hermit crabs, turtles, dogs, fish, rabbits, horses… and they each have taught me something – tricks to the trade and interesting tid-bits about ownership.

Let me start off by telling you, my beloved fur baby, Chase, had a run-in yesterday with an unknown animal – might have been a dog, a cat, or perhaps even a raccoon, but regardless, he came in bloodied and wounded.

Lesson 1: It is ok to over react when your fur baby is injured, but do not over react to the point you convince your veterinarian best-friend that it’s so bad, we might have to amputate if infection sets in. Yes, I over reacted. But he was injured, and his pathetic little eyes told me he was hurting. So – from this lesson and trip to the vet I have learned that it is FREE to get your pet’s antibiotics filled at Giant Eagle instead of having your veterinarian’s office fill them for a pricey amount.

You all know I have turtles, and I love my turtles, despite Ferrari out growing every tank I have ever put her in. My newest discovery has to do with feeding.

Lesson 2: Turtles have the ability to throw up. Who knew? But they can. Apparently I over fed her, so she puked. We were very perplexed by this, so clearly I Googled about the situation. And yep! Turtles have the ability to vomit. Note to self: feed in smaller amounts.

As mentioned above, and as many of you may know, my BFF works for a veterinarian. And she is awesome and saves the lives of our fur babies every day. She is full of great stories (like the frog named Jesus that was puked up by a dog twice and survived) and random facts.

Lesson 3: Animal anti-diarrhea medicine works for humans too! She let me know this first-hand.

In college, my roommate and I bought a rabbit, a dwarf bunny named Dancer. We read on the internet that rabbits can be potty-trained to use a litter box like a cat – so really, your bunny can hop around your home (or in our case a dorm room) freely. We thought this would be awesome…

Lesson 4: Potty training with bunnies doesn’t work unless you take the time to teach them. Dancer crapped and peed wherever she wanted, ate through just about everything we owned, including Christmas lights and a leather purse. She didn’t stay around much longer after that. My recommendation – keep the rabbit in the cage.

What are some random/interesting things you have learned while being pet owners??

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The snow is here...Now the dogs are a mess!

So in one of my last posts I asked where's the snow? I heard the question was also asked on GMA the same morning (which I am already on my way to work when it comes on) but I felt right on topic that day. We ended up getting a couple of inches, nothing too exciting, but of course everyone freaks out! It took a fellow blogger and I two hours to get home after work that first snow fall of the year! Typically it takes us anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 15 depending on what fantastic event is going on in Pittsburgh. The worst is when the Pirates have an afternoon game...and even though they are horrible, people still go! How is it that we have the worst baseball team and yet, people still go to afternoon games? Don't they have to work like the rest of us? I digress...

Now that the snow is here, I get to look forward to my dogs rolling around and jumping in the snow like snow bunnies and bringing it all through the house once they are finished. It is fun to watch them do it (as you will see below) but the end result is what I hate. Don't you hate walking in the house, taking off your shoes at the door like we have been taught, but the first step you take in your socks is into a wet spot thanks to the dogs? ARGH!

My solution, I am buying them boots. We shall see how long this lasts before I get sick of putting them on. I did this with their shock collars too (and before I hear any crap about that, they learned their boundaries and don't have to wear them anymore...except for the random times they get brave). I would be really good about putting them on and thankfully they don't have to wear them anymore. I figure at least snow is only around for a couple months, so I should be able to handle it. When I get these boots (suggestions on where to buy them would be nice!), I will be sure to post pictures, but until then, I will chase them around the house with a towel to get their paws dry.

Here is a video from a snow day they had last year. Around 2:10 is my favorite part when Mark (the black one) gets a surprise from Axel. You will notice Mark is not a huge fan of the snow and has to have Axel make him a walking path. What a baby!

They are the best of friends and forever will be. But this year, let's hope we don't get that much snow again and I won't have to get the snow off of their bodies too!

Here is to hoping for snow days, even though we aren't in school anymore!

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