Yeah, I've been MIA this week.
Some friends of mine do humanitarian work on the side (mainly involving fresh water projects) and are in Haiti for a couple of weeks.
...and I have their 9 month old, partially-trained, 50 pound rescue puppy staying with me.
In addition to having lengthy talks with a water-filled squirt bottle about how I don't like her barking at 2am, we've also been having multiple discussions about not chasing/barking/snapping at the cat, what is, and is not allowed to be destroyed, and how I don't much appreciate standing outside for 15 minutes in the pitch darkness waiting for her to go to the bathroom, then give up, and 5 minutes later have to clean poop off the floor.
Thursday night, after meeting with my local writing group, I was blessed with half-dried vomit on my leather sofa when I got home.
I've also been spending between 2-4 hours at the off-leash dog park every day, and my 4 year old beagle keeps trying to take refuge on my lap, between my legs, under my desk, behind the cat tree, wherever she can, because she doesn't much appreciate being stepped on/bowled over by a dog 3x her weight/size with about 6x the energy level.
We've also working on the leash pulling, the not-coming-back-when called, the biting, the barking/growling, the escaping out the front door (and then not coming back), and a few other things that will, overall, make her a better citizen while staying as a guest in my house.
Needless to say, while I'm happy to do a favour for a friend, this one is a little more taxing than expected.
Now, it's time again to throw on some running clothes and head to the dog park. Because I've been trying to write this post for the last 45 minutes.
See you guys when I'm puppy-free again :)
gah! You're brave. I've only dog sat once but the dog was nine years old and just slept most of the time. Good luck with everything.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty happy to give her back :) Puppies are such high-maintenance!
DeleteMy rented house came with an abandoned cat. We're fond of cats, have always had one, so we didn't mind friending this abused female. Who went into heat two months after we started feeding her so we had to get her spayed, then care for her in the house, and now she's a house kitty - which is really weird cuz we're learning things about cats we never knew before we had a house-cat.
ReplyDeleteAll well and good we all adjusted. But, now there's this other stray we've adopeted, a male, and its like having a roommate that just doesn't conform to the house norms. He's awfully cute though. Has some redeeming qualities. One of which is annoying the hell out of the resident female . .
Having a new pet is like having the sister's kids, or the grandkids, visit for more than a couple hours. Fun, exciting, and When are they leaving? LOL.
Its never easy to have your routine messed with.
........dhole
Hahahahaha! That's awesome!
DeleteYup, animals certainly do take their time getting comfortable with each other... especially when one is territorial.
And yes, just like I love my nephew, I REALLY love giving him back at the end of the day when he's overtired and cranky ;)
Now isn't it nice you can blog and vent? imagine the ulcers you would have if couldn't vent? That dog is hell (wonder if Gideon would have luck training him...) Have a great week
ReplyDeleteWell, she wasn't bad... she listened pretty good when I took control (except for the not-coming-back-thing). It's not her fault that her owners have never had/trained a pet before.
DeleteI figure, if I can fully train a cat, I can train anything ;)
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