This last weekend my sister was away and she had asked me to help her out. She couldn’t take her dog and as nice as her neighbours were, she didn’t feel comfortable leaving her house key with any of them. So, she asked me and I was happy to help. It’s been a while since I pet sat and I think this is my first time dog sitting. It went well though, with plenty of amusement.
Getting Instructions
Last week Thursday I headed over to my sister’s place to go over the details of what she needed me to do. We also wanted to make sure her dog was okay with me. Unfortunately, I don’t get to visit with my sister a lot and it has been a really long time since her dog had seen me. And he isn’t a fan of strangers. However, it was all tail wags and excitement when he did. Because he is such a strong dog, my sister wanted to make sure that I could handle him. He listened like a champ, much to my sister’s delight. Mine as well. This would make dog sitting that much easier.
Dog Sitting Begins
Friday came and my sister got ready to head out after work. I zipped over to pick up the house key and check on the dog. I knew I was going to be busy that evening so I needed to make sure he was good before I left. My sister had looked after a lot of the things before leaving. She thanked me again for dog sitting and headed out. Her dog looked a bit confused, but seemed content enough. Not much else happened on Friday.
Saturday
Saturday I slept in and then quickly headed to my sister’s place to check on her dog. He was very eager to get out of his kennel. I took him outside and he did his business, but then I noticed that he had a ton of energy. So, I locked the door and took him for a short walk. Unfortunately, during the course of our walk the temperature went up and by the time we got back to the apartment we both needed a nice long drink of water. I hung out with him a bit, played tug of war and then I had to go. So, back in the kennel he went. I gave him more water and his food before heading to work. I knew I would be back later that night as I planned to stay the night. My sister was amused by this and wished me luck.
A Humorous Dog Sitting Night
I arrived back at the apartment close to midnight and took him outside one more time before we would head to bed. My sister said I could choose if he slept in the kennel or with me and she offered her bed. I thought the couch would be fine. This would have been true except that I also let her dog sleep with me. My cats sleep with me every night, so I’m just used to having that company. The couch was not big enough for both of us. Especially because he insisted on sleeping with his head next to mine. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. But, he snored! Boy did he snore. And so loud. I finally moved us both to the bedroom thinking more space would be better. He still insisted that he sleep next to me, and his head near mine. At some point he ended up sleeping at my feet and I was able to fall asleep.
Sunday
Now, the reason I slept at her place was because I had to work early the next morning, after working late Saturday night. My own fault and when I made the schedule it wasn’t a problem. I was living at the hotel after all. However, because I was dog sitting for my sister, it meant that I was going to have an earlier wake up than planned. As you can imagine, after the night I had, I didn’t get a lot of sleep. But, I didn’t have time to cry about it. After taking the dog out, giving him fresh water and food, I headed back to the hotel to begin my day. And boy was it a day that involved a lot of running around. Needless to say, I was excited to be done with my shift. My sister was on her way back so I headed to her place, let her dog out, and we hung out a bit. He was excitable so I took him back outside to walk around. When she arrived home we were coming back to the apartment. I was going to let him run to her, but some of the neighbour kids came running outside. He got a bit more interested in them and at the last minute I had to tighten my grip on the leash to keep him from running to them. My reward – a friction burn.
Would I Dog Sit Again?
Absolutely. He is a good dog, but doesn’t know his own strength and needs to get to know people before he can be around them. However, he does listen to my sister and he listened to me reasonably well. When I say this dog is strong, he probably could have pulled his leash from my hands in his attempt to get to the kids. However, he responded to me saying no and we were able to reach my sister without incident. They were both excited to see each other and even though the fingers on my one hand were in pain, I wasn’t mad at him. I updated my sister on how the weekend had gone and she shared a bit of how hers had gone. We would have spent more time together, but I was exhausted and ready to take a nap, so she let me go. In the future I would like to spend more time with her and see her dog more as well. As I say, anything can happen if I try.
