the dog walker

This dog walker is taking a few days of r&r.  The blog will be back up soon!

the dog walker becomes a dog rescuer

Yesterday:  I was given a bag of dog food by a neighbor over a week ago.  It has been in my car since then.  Yesterday afternoon I finally call a client I know whose dog eats this type of food.  After going by the client's house to drop the food off, I'm driving down Sulkirk Rd otherwise I wouldn't have been driving on this road.  I see a miniature pinscher walking down the sidewalk.  I don't see anyone... he just looks like he's out for a walk by himself.  I pull over, grab some treats and the dog comes to me. I pick him up and start knocking on doors trying to find the dog's house.  Most people aren't home (it's 4pm on a Monday afternoon.)  I take the dog to Southpark Animal Hospital to see if he's chipped.  (He doesn't have a collar on.)  He's not chipped.  As I'm standing there debating on what to do with this little guy, a customer in the clinic offers to take him, search the internet for postings about a lost dog.  I tell her that I've got to get to work and walk 3 sets of dogs and then I'll go home and do the same.

39 minutes after posting a note on my fb page, a friend of mine sends an email about the lost dog to 2 friends she knows that live on Sulkirk.  I immediately get a reply back from one of them who knows who lost this dog.  By 8pm, the dog was home.  Here is an email I got from the owner:

Hi Kim,

I am the mom of the little min pin, Chester that you rescued today and I just wanted to thank you for what you did. Thanks to some tips from some wonderful neighbors I was able to get in contact with Kathy and my little Chester was home on my lap by 8:00pm. I cannot thank you enough! I love that little guy so very much! He will turn 14yrs old next month and still to this day brings so much joy to my life each and every day. He has never gotten out of our fenced yard before as he's hardly outside without one of us watching him so I feel so blessed that you were there for Chester today. You're an angel! You really went over and above and thanks to you my prayers were answered and Chester is home safe tonight. Thank you so much! The world needs more people like you in it. My deepest gratitude, CM

I was supposed to carry that food around in my car for a week.  I was supposed to call my client today.  I was supposed to find Chester and help him find his way back home. :)

Lesson #18 Learned by this Pet Sitter

This goes back to Lesson #2 learned early on in my dog walking career:  "Always take at least one more poop bag than you need when walking dogs."  If by chance I use the last poop bag I have on me, by now I should remember not to tie the bag up so tightly.  Inevitably the dog will poop again and I am stuck trying to untie the bag.

dog walking and cat sitting on Saturday 5/14

Snickers -Snickers and I had a nice visit last night and this morning we took a little walk.  She seemed to really enjoy it.  She peed a couple of times, pooped and she did lots of sniffing too.  After I put her leash on her this morning, she crawled onto her bed which is when I snapped this picture!

Kai, Gracie and Mr Big -they are all doing just fine.  Both dogs peed a few times, Gracie pooped but Kai didn't.  Gracie rolled around in the grass too!  I kicked the tennis ball around a little for Kai too while Gracie ate.  Mr Big went out while I was there but came in before I left.  He went flying up the tree in your backyard.  Wish I would've had my camera then!

Holly - The weather this morning was perfect.  This time of year, early in the morning is my favorite!  We went for a nice walk.  Holly peed several times, pooped 2x, growled at a goofy looking golden retriever (I laughed at her, so did the golden's dad), and she rolled in the grass once.  Tibby is just fine and Shannon got to see her last night too for the first time!

Buddy

Buddy - bless his heart.  He hates going to the vet.  He trembles uncontrollably when he is there.  He has to go today to have surgery to remove a growth on his lower lip that is growing pretty fast.  Poor guy had all of his front teeth pulled several months ago and now lip surgery.  He's going to have a hard time eating for the next few days but I know he'll find away.  He loves meal time and wasn't happy about not getting breakfast this morning.  We'll make it up to him though.  We love you Buddy!

the dog walker and cat sitter on Fri 5/13

Kai, Gracie and Mr Big -All is well.  We kind of have a routine.  I get there and Kai greets me :)  Gracie does too!  We go outside, hang out there for awhile and then we come back inside.  We played with the tennis ball a little bit yesterday, this morning Gracie ate and then I'll leash them up to go back outside again.  I think Kai is being well behaved so far.... while I'm there he's doing pretty good at not jumping up on me AND I've not noticed any damage in the house. :)

Winston - I'm thinking he is probably more than 135 lbs at this point.  I'd not seen him in awhile and he looks bigger to me, if that's possible!  He's only 15 months so I'm guessing he could still be growing.  He's a sweet boy!