I just finished pet-sitting for a handful of dogs. Five to be exact, although I only have pictures of four of them. This big galootto the left is a Harlequin Great Dane named Cowgirl. Wonder why!!! If she could talk you'd probably hear something like "gallump, gallump!" She moved with the speed of a snail, had no idea how big her feet really are, and whenever she was actually standing and you were anywhere around, she'd sidle over to you and put her head right down into your lap, or into your stomach. I believe if she could have crawled into your skin, she would have. You'd think because of her size she'd be the alpha dog, but not. I think her position was somewhere close to the bottom. Even the teacup poodle challenged her.
This little one to the left is a teacup poodle named Skeeter. Of all the dogs, he was the most needy. The first day I met him, he wanted nothing to do with me, mostly because his Mamma had him and he was content to be with her. He did, on that initial meeting, lash out at Cowgirl and was literally clamped down on her ear. It's a good thing Cowgirl has such a sweet personality, otherwise this little one would have been a snack a long time ago. For the first day and a half, he would not eat. Finally on the evening of the second day, I took him into the bathroom, where he ate with Angel (the one not shown) and put his food on his mat and sat down on the lid of the toilet. From that moment on, we were buddies. He ate as long as I was sitting on the toilet. It worked out really well, especially since I'm retired and have all the time in the world to wait for little ones like this to eat. It also gave me time to pet on Angel. Angel was found in a puppy mill, and apparently had been kept in a kennel the whole of her life. She was only comfortable being in a confined space, in this case the bathroom, with her back to the tub. Not once, in the eight days I was there, did she come out of the bathroom. She ate, slept, and used the puppy pads when she had to go to the bathroom. Really a sweet baby though. Skeeter was the only dog who slept in the bed with me. He layed right next to me and snuggled. Thank God it wasn't Cowgirl!!!
Now, here's the little red-headed b****. Her name is Scarlett, and she's a Redbone Coon Hound, and also a rescue dog. She has a really sweet personality, but boy did I have to watch that she didn't get into anything. At one point I looked up and she had gotten up on the stove and had grabbed the loaf of bread and was proceeding to her kennel. Thankfully, she didn't try to bite me, or fight me, when I took it away. She loved being outside and laying right by the back door, sunbathing. Of all the dogs, she wanted to be outside the most, and was always the last to come in, no matter day or night.
The easiest one to care for was this one, Frisco. He's a boxer and had decided the kennel in the living room was his personal domain. Scarlett often tried to make it hers, but neither he nor I was having anything to do with that. The only problem I had was about the third day he and Cowgirl got into it, over food. Immediately I jumped up and yelled at both of them to stop. Which they did. Scared me to death. I have no plans on jumping into the middle of a dog fight.
Most of the time, Frisco would eat his food, and then would go into his kennel to lay down. When it came time to go outside, he was the one I had to chase down and grab by his collar to get him to go out. He really wanted to be in Angel's room, eating her food, rather than being outside. But getting him to go into the kennel was easy. Tell him, "kennel Frisco", and open the door, and in he would walk.
I did come to the realization that if I had been working and needing to be at work by 5:30 am, this job would not have been something I could have done. Definitely a job for a retired person, or at least for someone who has time to sit on the "pot" encouraging one little guy to eat. Every one of them had such a sweet disposition!!! I would definitely be willing to go back!!!
