The Holidays with Bella

Bella, our dog will be celebrating her 14th Christmas with us this year.  I wonder how far back she can remember our holidays together.  I remember her as puppy, getting into everything!  I remember how hard it was to potty train her.  She was terribly cute and we probably let her get away with too many things.  She was the first dog I really ever owned and cared for.  Along with my husband, this was our first "child" that we cared for as a couple.  We had so many bad habits with her, like letting her sleep with us.  After she got bigger, it was harder to tell who's bed it was - hers or ours? 

I am so glad that our baby knows her.  For some reason, Bella never got attached to our eldest daughter who is now 7.  She lets the baby grab her, hug her, and kiss her.  It is too adorable.  I hope she stays healthy until the baby is older and can remember her more.

I know Bella's ultimate Christmas gift would be for us to allow her on the couch (or perhaps our bed again).  The problem is she has no boundaries and would likely take advantage of the situation.  I think I'll buy her a new comfy bed instead.  She's a great believer in good bones, so I'll probably get her some bones as well. 

I hope there are many more years with Bella, our first "child".

Pet Sitting Myths Barto, Bally, Boyertown, Bechtelsville, and Gilbertsville, PA

Great blog about pet sitting myths!

Pet Sitting Myths Barto, Bally, Boyertown, Bechtelsville, and Gilbertsville, PA

PAWS Walk

I'm surprised and over-joyed by the generousity of our pet sitting clients.  We were able to raise $240 in donations for PAWSWalk (PAWS in Lynnwood, WA).  This is the most donations we have received for any walk/organization since we have been in business.  Keep in mind that we began our business in 2001. 

I think that says a lot considering the economic conditions we are in.  I think pets in general target people's hearts.  Animals can only do so much for themselves in a human dominated world.  Especially small animals that have domesticated for the sheer purpose of being our companions.

The holiday season is fast approaching...unfortunately that means every organization that needs help is going to ask for help during this time-frame.  It seems that most people tend to be more generous during the holidays.  We have an annual drive for PAWs in Lynnwod, WA for items such as dog and cat food, bedding, and other pet-related items.  I hope that it will be as successful as the PAWSWalk!

Cat in a bookshelf

Here is my cat Katie.  Yes, she is in the bookshelf!  Lately she has found the darndest places to sleep.  I don't know if it's the heat that makes her seek out new places to sleep or perhaps the kids chasing her?  I envy her ability to literally sleep anywhere.  If only I could fit in the bookshelf and hope no one would notice.

Reflections

I remember the days when I would take my eldest daughter with me to visit Harry and Gus.  She was barely learning how to walk.  And they had to adjust their hyperness to such a small person.  The years have passed by and my daughter is now 7 and can now walk Gus on her own. 

My youngest daughter went on a walk with us and there was an instant flashback of my eldest.  My youngest is almost a year and is learning how to walk.  Gus towers over her.  Since he met my eldest daughter, his family has grown.  He has learned to deal with babies, since his owners had two of their own.  Harry is no longer with us, but Gus seems to be handling it well.

I don't want to fast forward to the day my youngest is walking the dogs instead of being towered by them.

We are very fortunate to be able to take our daughters with us to "work".  Yet on sunny days when our job is to take a dog out on a walk, it hardly seems like "work".

Summer heat - a dog's perspective

I wish pets could talk.  I wish my dog Bella could tell me if she's too hot to be outside or for that matter if she's too hot to be inside.  Does she need a fan?  Does she need more cool water?  A bath?  Hmm, I don't think she would say yes to that!  My dog hates baths.  She tolerates them, but would prefer never to have a bath again.

I think Bella would tell us to keep her bed cool.  She would want the sun beaming on her head only.  She likes to sun bathe but only if she doesn't move.  I wish I could lounge all day too.  What a life?  As the weather continues to creep up, I look forward to a summer of sunshine and heat.  I bet Bella looks forward to it too!

Take Your Dog To Work Day

First celebrated in 1999, Take Your Dog To Work Day was created to celebrate the great companions dogs make and to encourage their adoption from humane societies, animal shelters and breed rescue clubs. This annual event asks pet lovers to celebrate the humane-canine bond and promote pet adoption by encouraging their employers to support TYDTWDay by opening their workplace to employees’ four-legged friends on this one special day.

On Friday June 25, 2010, businesses, animal shelters and pet-care professionals from around the world will work together to better the lives of shelter dogs everywhere. Thousands of businesses will GO FURRY to promote pet adoption by opening their doors to employees’ furry, four-legged friends on this day in celebration of the great companions dogs make.

We encourage everyone to participate in this fantastic event!  If you cannot take your dog to work, help spread the word by encouraging others to adopt a pet.

We adopted one of our dogs from a shelter.  It felt so good to know that we had saved a dog.  In the end (after 12 wonderful years), we now know he saved us.  He was the missing piece of our family.

Returning to Work

We have returned to work after a much needed vacation.  For the first time in my life I felt like I want to go back to the vacation!  Usually, it feels normal to go back to work and the normal routines of life.  But this time, I had such a good time that I finally get why people love vacations so much.  The trick was not to cram so many activities into one trip.  I am glad to get back to work so that we can start saving for our next vacation!

Vacation and Pet Sitting

We are finally going on a much needed vacation!  The last time we traveled was in 2007!  Now we will be traveling with two kids (one 7 year old, one 9 month old).  Looking forward to just landing and settling in - let the fun begin!

It's hard to take vacation when your business relies on "vacationers".  We never want to turn away business.  It is hard to say no.  But we rarely take time off and feel that we deserve a break.  We definitely don't want to burn out.  I hope we will come back refreshed and ready for the busy summer.

I will keep this short today, lots of stuff to do before we leave...

Top 10 dogs that worked in horror films

Top 10 dogs that worked in horror films (from eatmybrains.com)



1.Cujo - St. Bernard (Cujo)


2.Beauty and Beast - German Shepherds (The Hills Have Eyes)


3.Price - Rottweiler (The People Under The Stairs)


4.Nanook - Siberian Husky (The Lost Boys)


5.Blood - Mongrel (A Boy and His Dog)


6.Max - Tibetan Mastiff (Man's Best Friend)


7.Unknown name - Husky (The Thing)


8.Unknown - Rottweiler (Alien 3)


9.Dickie - Alsatian (The Beyond)


10.Chips - Collie (Dawn of the Dead))

Babies and Pets

Bella, Reno, and Katie were our kids for a long time.  We got married in 1995 but didn't have our first child until 2003.  We were worried about how our pets would react to a baby in the house.  They noticed the baby things creeping into our home and would often go and smell them.  The day our daughter was born, we took a hat she had worn for our dogs to smell prior to us leaving the hospital.  They were happy to see us when we got back from the hospital.  They smelled our daughter and were satisfied with doing that.  Over the years, our daughter tried to ride the dogs, aggressively pet the cat, dress up the dogs, and race the dogs.  They were eager to have someone solely dedicated to playing with them. 

In 2009 we had our second child and our dogs were now 12 and 13 and our cat was 11.  Our pets were less concerned with the arrival of our newest daughter.  Our first daughter luckily kept them entertained when the baby got fussy.  Our boy dog Reno did not get to spend too much time with the baby - he passed away the day after Thanksgiving.  We feel bad that our second daughter will never really know him.

Before having kids we never thought our pets would be neglected in any way.  But after having kids it seems it is more of a balancing act.  We constantly have to remind ourselves to pay attention to them.  Our eldest daughter is good about giving them the extra attention they need.  I can't imagine life without our furry kids and our human kids.

Late night disturbance

My dog Bella who is 13 years old chooses to do her licking/scratching late at night.  She spends most of the the daylight hours sleeping, smelling, and walking around.  Lately, she has dedicated the hours of 12-3am as licking hours!  She obsesses over certain spots.  She's had allergies all her life.  We don't know if the current licking habit is due to her allergies or just becoming a bad habit.  To top it off, she also scratches her ears and then begins to whine when it hurts.  Poor dog!  Poor us!  She can't hear us telling her to stop licking - she lost her hearing about a year ago.  She sleeps one level above us since she can't climb down the stairs anymore.  It is a hassle to have to go up and tell her to stop.  Any suggestions?

Too much licking!

Our cat Katie had been licking for the past week excessively.  To the point that she was started to get a lot of hot spots all over her body.  She looked terrible.  She was throwing up a lot of hairballs and was constantly moving around.  She just could not get comfortable for a long period of time.  We have found hairballs all over the house with no end in sight.  We needed to do something quick!

We took her to the vet today.  They checked her for fleas, which she did not have.  They ended up giving her an injection of antibodies and steriod pills to help with the discomfort.  If only she could tell the vet what she felt was going on!  The simple checkup turned out to cost us over $200.  Nothing is simple with owning pets.  They also shaved her hot spots and poured medicated powder to help heal the sores.  Poor cat, looks worse!

We bought some flea medication for her.  The vet said that there was a chance that she had had fleas but ate them.  The itchiness was a residual effect and would take longer to go away.  We hope she goes back to her normal self soon.  We will definitely not miss the hairballs...

Growing Old Together

I wonder when it happened.  Did the two of them decide to call a truce?  My dog and cat seemed to be at peace with one another.  Finally.

My dog Bella was two years old when Katie our cat walked into our lives.  Bella has always been curious about Katie but kept her distance.  Katie has always been fiesty and made it clear that she would not tolerate being smelled.  Katie seemed to like our other dog Reno (who recently passed away).  She weighs about 11 pounds, Reno weighed over 60.  Katie was his boss.  Poor Reno!  I often caught Katie swiping at Reno as he passed by her.  She would stare at him until he moved from the bed she wanted to lay on.  I would often find them sleeping together on the cold nights.  Bella had her own bed.  I believed they had a mutual understanding to stay away from each other.  For over 12 years that's what their relationship was - separate.

In the last couple of weeks, maybe they finally noticed Reno's absence and felt they had no choice but to interact.  I caught Bella a few times whining over a bed with Katie.  Katie would not budge.  But lately, they have been sleeping next to one another.  Bella is now 13 and Katie is 11.  With our 6 year old (going on 30!) and our new baby, life has been hectic.  It's nice to see that they have each other.  I hope that somewhere somehow they reached an agreement to accept one another and live amicably.  I hope that they learn to love one another as we love them individually.  If Reno was here (or maybe he's the one who convinced them?) he would be sleeping in the middle of them.  We'll see how long this lasts...

Reno, the good boy

The day after Thanksgiving will always be a day we'll never forget.  We went to Seattle for the tree lighting ceremony and came home to find our dog, Reno had passed away.  Our other dog, Bella seemed to be fine.  Reno lay still in his dog house.  It felt like a dream.  We called out to him but he never answered.  He was always so alert.  Barking at every little sound.  Now he lay so still, it hurt to see him like this.  We said our goodbyes and my husband took him to the vet.

It took us several days to not cry at the thought of Reno.  My daughter took it the hardest.  Reno was her best friend.  He often let her dress him up, raced with her, and let her love him.  It was such a neat relationship.  Our other dog didn't seem to change much, she did seem more clingy and needed lots of attention.

I created a book for Reno, full of his pictures, and our memories of him.  My heart still hurts when I see another dog running with his human friend.  That used to be me and him.

I don't know when the day will come that we can attach ourselves to another dog.  Reno was 12 years old when he passed.  He lived a full and mostly healthy life.  He had a sister dog, a arch nemisis (our cat), and humans who loved him so much. 

We did find a poem about him waiting for us at Rainbow Bridge.  It was comforting to hear that there is a place where he is free from pain, free to run, and eagerly awaiting for us.  I truly hope that this place exists.

I love you Reno.

Celebrating Pet Sitters Week

From March 7-13 is Professional Pet Sitters Week!  We will be randomly selecting a client to spend extra time with each day (no extra charge).

We greatly appreciate our clients.  We implement their suggestions and address their concerns.  We are grateful for having a job that we honestly love.  We are fortunate to be self-employed, spend our days with pets and each other, and be appreciated by our clients.  We have made some awesome relationships with several of our clients and consider many our friends.  Thank you to everyone who has used our services and will continue to use us in the future!

Launching New Blog About Pets, Pet Sitting, Pet Care, and More!

As experienced pet sitters we'd like to offer our input, advice, suggestions, thoughts, comments, etc. about pets, pet sitting, and pet care in general. 

This blog will be used as a tool for discussions and feedback.  We encourage you to leave comments.  We'll reply to all questions within a week, and errors in the posts will be acknowledged in the comment area.  Feel free to disagree with our points if there is need for disagreement, but keep in mind that all off-topic comments, disparaging comments, comments with more than one link, and comments that include profanity will be deleted.

Walking Dogs In The Rain

In the Pacific Northwest, it tends to rain a lot.  You would think that dogs in this area would be used to it by now! 

My dog Bella is 13 years old.  In the mornings, she slowly gets up to eat her breakfast.  She takes her time nibbling her food.  After she is done, she looks at me with hesitation.  Then she looks out the door to see what the weather conditions are like.  If she does not see rain, she leaps with joy towards the door.  If she sees rain, she slowly goes towards her bed and not the door.  I have to slightly pull her collar and coax her to go outside.  I see in her eyes that if she could talk she would say, "Are you kidding me?  You go!".  She searches for the spot with the least amount of rain, does her business and quickly heads back to the door to be let in.

As a pet sitter, we often have to take dogs out in the rain.  Some of our clients warn us that their dog(s) may not want to go out.  Some of the dogs shake and shiver at the sight of rain.  They continually pull on their leash to go back home.  They would rather be back home in their toasty beds!  It is a part of our jobs to be out in the rain.  We try to make the best of it and know that is in the best interest of the dog that they go potty outside.  Consistency is the key - especially when helping to potty train puppies. 

We've thought of various contraptions that would help keep us (dogs included) dry.  An umbrella is difficult to carry if their are more than one dog to hold or if we need to pick up poop.  Most dogs do not like raincoats or rainboots.  It's not natural for dogs to wear clothes and they often focus on the coat or boots instead of relieving themselves during the walk. 

If anyone has any ideas on how to keep dry, send them our way!

Military Discounts

We wanted to acknowledge the brave men and women who are active military personnel by offering a 10% discount for pet care.  We feel it is important to give back to those who serve our country so valiantly.  Please identify yourself as active military to receive the discount.