Most Popular Pet Names

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I’ve been a dog walker / pet sitter for over 10 years so I think I have a decent sample size for determining common pet names.

Here’s a bit about me that you might not know: I am a fan of The Bachelor franchise. Don’t judge. :) I am particularly a fan of Nick Viall and recently on twitter he listed the Top 5 names for male dogs: https://twitter.com/viallnicholas28/status/1179810447865741312

So if you like this blog post, you have Nick to thank.

He listed: Steve, Jeff, Howard, Craig and Phil as the Top 5. The post isn’t clear to me but perhaps he is thinking of getting a dog? If so, I’d love to be his dog photographer!!

I do actually know a dog named Steve. He’s an adorable cockapoo. The samoyed puppy pictured above is named Kevin.

However the most common dog names I’ve run across in Charlotte are: Molly, Maggie, Sam, Lulu, Bella, Louis, and Winston. I think I’ve met more Molly’s and Maggie’s than any other names.

I have a Molly. We adopted her at the age of 5 and she came with her name. She has lots of nicknames too.

My Newest Dog Walking Client Rhodes

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You can imagine my excitement when I got an inquiry recently about daily visits with a 9 week old golden retriever puppy. His name is Rhodes.

He is the cutest!

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Since he is little, I’m currently seeing him twice a day while his parents are at work. Once he gets a little bigger, we’ll adjust the visits to just once a day.

Right now we are hanging out in his large fenced yard during my dog sitting visits. When he has a little more training, I’ll start walking him.

I meet with all of my new clients face to face. We discuss what you’d like for me to do during my time with your dog. I’ll text you after the visit and some times I even send you videos or cute pics of your dog from our visit.

Rest assured, your dog or super young pup will be in good hands. I’ll treat him like my own.

Dog Walking at Sharon Towers

As a dog walker in Charlotte, I typically walk dogs while their dog mom and dog dad are at work. Occasionally though I am presented with a different dog walking need.

This is Lulu. She is famous where she lives. I mean EVERYONE knows who she is.

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She lives at Sharon Towers, an independent and assisted living facility for senior citizens.

Her mom isn’t safely able to walk her anymore so I have the awesome job of walking her multiple times per day so she can get out, stretch her legs and do all of her business.

Lulu is very popular at Sharon Towers. The front desk and some of the staff keep treats for her. Trust me when I say, she knows where the treats are!

If you a regular dog walker while you work, need a dog walker while you cover from surgery (we’ve been hired for this purpose too), just reach out to us. We are happily walking dogs every Monday through Friday in the Southpark area of Charlotte: serving portions of 28210, 28209, 28211 and 28226.

Brady and Ferguson

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These two cuties are Brady and Ferguson. They turned 9 in June which makes me shake my head in disbelief because I've known them since they were 3 months old. Their dad contacted me back in September 2009 and they've been a client ever since. I see them every day while their dad is at work.

Brady on the left in the photo above likes to walk. Fergie on the right loves to be outside (as long as the ground isn't wet) but he doesn't love to walk. He prefers to sit and look around with his nose in the air. His dad and I think that might be because he's had some foot issues.

Every day when I walk into their house, they come running to greet me. Brady usually gets to me first and he jumps up to say hi. Ferguson runs over too, waits for me to pet him and then they go flying to the back door and wait for me to open it. I sometimes think they must sit and look out the back windows watching the squirrels and the birds because they go zooming out and sometimes bark as if to say, "This is my yard, get out!" They're pretty funny and very predictable. 

They live close to me too so I get to see them frequently when their dad is out walking them. One of the best feelings in the world is when they see me and they get all excited. Even though I've most likely just seen them a few hours earlier in the day while their dad was at work, they're still running towards me pulling their dad along to come over and say hi. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have the best job in the world. 

If you think your dog would enjoy a midday break while you're at work, get in touch. We will take them for a walk, let them roam your backyard or whatever they'd like to do. #bestjobever

Hot Temperatures

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We live in Charlotte NC and that means we have several months of hot temperatures during the summer. When I photograph dogs during these month, I can pretty much guarantee that most of the photos will look like this. The dog will be panting. The tongue will be hanging out of his mouth. 

According to petmd.com, once a dog's body temperature rises, he can't sweat through his skin like we do to cool off. Dogs do sweat through their paw pads, but it's by panting that dogs circulate the necessary air through their bodies to cool down. In really hot temperatures some short nosed dogs like pugs and bulldogs have a very difficult time trying to cool off.

Here are a few pointers to help your dog stay healthy and safe during the hot summer months:

1. Plan to exercise your dog earlier in the day when it isn't so hot
2. Be aware that the pads of their feet can burn on hot pavement. Put the back of your hand on the pavement for 5 seconds. If it is hot to you, it's too hot for their paws.
3. Recognize that dogs can get heat stroke. I know a woman who was running with her lab and he died on the run of heat stroke. She had no idea it could happen. Please educate yourself and others. Seeing people running with their dog this time of year drives me crazy. If the dog is lagging behind on the run with a human, that's probably a sign.
4. Never leave your car in a vehicle. 

As a dog walker and pet sitter, the summer months are busy with clients on vacation. I will opt for shorter walks during the midday hot temperatures and then play indoors. While I am walking, I try to stay in the shade and in the grass. I tend to do longer walks earlier in the morning.

I am overly cautious with my dogs and with my client's dogs in hot temperatures. Safety first!

Moose and the dog sitter

I am a dog sitter and when we go on vacation to Hilton Head like we did last week and take Moose and Willow with us, we have to hire a dog sitter. No joke! This dog sitter hires a dog sitter WHEN the dogs are on vacation WITH US! And that's because of our crazy Moose.

We were hoping that his separation anxiety would be better this trip but no, he didn't like being left in the house alone. He isn't destructive but it stresses him out. I'd love to have a doggie cam set up to see what he does but actually when I think about it, that might break my heart to seem him stressed.

So, Moose didn't get left alone very much in the house. Luckily (or not so luckily for me), I'd planned to do quite a bit of work while we were on vacation. I have a ton of back office type of work that I need to catch up on so I'd planned to knock some of it out on vacation... and I did. Moose was happy to have me around.

We did plan to go out to dinner a couple of nights while we were there so the dog sitter came and stayed with him. He's a funny dog. As soon as she got there and we'd go to leave, he followed her back into the house, perfectly content that we were leaving as long as someone was there with him.

Yay for the dog sitter and for her helping us and The Moose while we were on vacation! Do your dogs require special attention or treatment when you're on vacation?