The Professional Dogsitter

For those of you that don't know, I run a little side business...aka, I'm a dogsitter. Well, it's not really a business but it does seem like I do it a lot. Thanks to my sister, I was able to get hooked up helping out friends of ours when they're out of town and it has turned out to be quite lucrative. Not to mention, it gives me a whole house to myself and a mini-vacation from my house. I'm 25 and live with my parents! AHH! Haha, it's not that bad actually, but I do like it when I have a chance to stay somewhere else, let out a dog once in a while and get paid for it too. Before I sound like a moocher, I moved home about 3 years ago to go back to school and since I graduated with my masters in May I went on a bunch of trips and decided that living at home is a great way to save money and buy what a what and travel where I want so I opted to stay here for at least another year.

Anyway, back to the original thought. I just got done dogsitting for a former co-worker for 2 1/2 weeks. That's my longest stint yet. It was great and quiet but I missed being home and having my own bed and access to all my clothes in the morning. Also, as easy as the dog is to take care of, she barks incessantly, especially through the night, and only on weekdays. It's like she's sad that her owners left her so she wants me to be awake and miserable too. I mean, she sleeps all day while I work so she just wanted to have fun. Ugh, it's just nice to be back in the quiet again. But, now my parents went out of town and left me to watch their beloved, Roxy (she's the one featured with me in the about photo).

She is cute but don't let that fool you. I always wanted a lab but after her, I'm not sure I'll ever own a dog! I love my cats. They are quiet, cuddly and so easy to take care of. But, back to Roxy. She is a wild, hyper, always wanting to play type of dog. She's still in her puppy phase. When I arrived at my house, she was in her crate (don't worry, it's only for when we aren't here, otherwise she'll eat the cats) and she had managed to chew apart the brand new training collar my parents bought her. Apparently it wasn't cheap. I went to let her outside, and knowing she likes to jet into the back woods I was holding her to get her connected to her running cord, she managed to break free and bolt off. I ran after her to no avail and called my parents to find out what to do. They said just call her name and clap and she'll return. Well, after 20 minutes or so of nothing, we concluded she was gone and I would have to get in the car and search...ugh! Just what I wanted to do on a Saturday! I drove in the next neighborhood from street to street until I saw her with two girls who had graciously caught her and leashed her. Ayayay, that was annoying. First an incessantly barking dog, and the one that gets away. Seriously, if you ever read a post about me getting a dog, shoot me!