Archives June 2022

I am a pet sitter, and I believe the majority of professional pet sitters are a caring, dedicated bunch who can absolutely be trusted with people’s pets.

That being said, there are some bad pet sitters out there. normally these “pet sitters” are just trying to find some extra money. They don’t take pet sitting seriously as a career.

The following are a couple examples of really bad pet sitters as well as examples of caring, responsible pet sitters. These examples are shared from the client’s point of view.

I hope you’ll share your best pet sitting stories (good or bad) in the comments.

You may also appreciate these awkward, embarrassing pet sitting moments. just know that not all pet sitters are bad!

The bad: The pet sitter who blocked off the litter boxes

Tobi Kosanke shared a story of a pet sitter who closed the shower room door, blocking her cats from accessing their litter boxes.

The sitter never discovered the cats were blocked and kept cleaning up the urine and feces in front of the door, Kosanke said. The sitter also fed treats indicated for small mammals to Kosanke’s parrots without asking.

And it gets worse.

“We came home a day early, after the morning visit, and she never showed up in the evening to take the dogs out or feed the animals,” Kosanke said. “I still have nightmares about this woman.”

This was a professional pet sitter who had a terrific web site, according to Kosanke.

The good: The pet sitter who helped a shy pet dog feel comfortable

Lenore Hirsch said her pet dog Foxy is very timid around strangers, especially men.

“So finding a pet sitter was a challenge,” she said. “How would the sitter get close enough to the pet dog to put the leash on and take him for a walk?”

She said this problem was resolved by a pet sitter named “Mark” (pictured) who concerned the house several times before the actual pet sitting assignment. He would get down on the floor with treats all over his body to get Foxy to come to him.

“After a few times, Foxy let him put the leash on and now they are good buddies.”

This story is part of Foxy’s memoir, My Leash on Life (aff link).

The bad: The pet sitter who never showed up

Jennifer Dombrowski and Tim Davis shared this story about hiring a pet sitter to enjoy their pet dog (pictured) and cat over Thanksgiving. This was not a professional company but an individual recommended by friends.

“Thankfully, we always let our neighbors know when we will be gone so they can keep an eye out,” Dombrowski said. “We were pretty upset to receive a phone call from them that our sliding door on our patio was large open and they had gone over to check what was going on.”

The neighbors told Dombrowski they hadn’t seen the pet sitter in the two days she’d been gone.

“We called our pet sitter and at first she lied, saying she was at our house before finally confessing she had not been staying there. We fired her over the phone and our neighbors took care of our animals until we returned at the end of the weekend.”

The good: The pet sitters who go above and beyond

Naomi Hattaway said with two rescue dogs and two rescue kittens, it’s a need to to have a reliable pet sitter.

“One of our dogs is shy, from what we think of is a bad previous owner,” she said. “And our pet sitters have transformed her!”

While Hattaway expected terrific service from Paws on the Run, she said she wasn’t expecting “fabulous overnight care,” two daily stop-ins and the pet sitter loving the animals as if they were their own.

“They send text messages several times a day with photos, and we love them!”

The bad: The pet sitter who lost a dog

Gretchen Crawford shared the story of what happened while she was gone on a trip to Alaska. She said she left her Westie with a neighbor who used pet sitting on the side out of her home.

“The one policy was to never let the pet dog out without the leash,” Crawford said. “He’s a terrier and prone to chase squirrels and birds.”

Two weeks later, she returned from her trip and picked her pet dog up from the “smiling” pet sitter.

Then, when she got home, her answering maker was “full of messages from people that found a lost pet dog and were calling the number on his collar, our home phone.”

Needless to say, Crawford did not go back to that sitter.

Geri kalanınızdan ne haber? Do you have any good or bad pet sitting stories to share?

If you are hiring a pet sitter, it’s normally best to use a professional pet sitting company unless it’s someone you pşahsen bilin ve güven. İşte bir evcil hayvan bakıcısının nasıl seçileceğine dair yazım.

I have a senior canine and a puppy—10 years old vs. 15 weeks old.

When you’re very bonded to your older canine and you get a new puppy it’s natural to feel a bit … guilty.

If any of you have experienced this, you’ll have to let me know in the comments or email (Lindsay@ThatMutt.com).

My senior canine Ace and I are very bonded. He is what I think of is that “perfect” once-in-a-lifetime canine some people are lucky enough to experience.

I hope I have much more than one of these dogs in my life, but Ace is special—my running and hiking and agility buddy, the canine who introduced me to fostering and blogging and so numerous pals I would’ve never met otherwise.

So when I spend the afternoon and evening with puppy Remy … taking him to the beach for a puppy playdate … taking him to puppy training class … I can’t help but feel a little bad.

I feel guilty for getting a second dog

I feel like I ought to be spending much more time with my old guy, Ace.

So how ought to a canine owner manage her time between two dogs?

Let me know what you perform in the comments. here are a few ideas that work well for me.

1. stick to a daily routine.

This may be much more for my own sanity than it is for my dogs. Puppy Remy knows he gets a potty break early in the morning and then breakfast and back in the crate for an hour or so.

Ace knows he gets food and a walk as well. then all of us work out in for the workday. (Dogs sleeping, me writing.)

Throughout the day they both get their potty breaks, walks and food around the same times so they pretty much know what to expect.

2. spend time with each dog.

Obviously both dogs need some time alone with me whether it’s a walk or playtime, training or cuddling. Ideally, they each get to do each of these things with me at some point throughout the week so it’s not just ONE thing they get to do separately.

For example, I try to take Ace for a walk by himself multiple times per week. I also play with him many days without Remy around.

3. schedule adventures with the older dog.

I try to plan two “adventures” with my older canine each week. This doesn’t have to be anything too elaborate. It’s typically driving 5 minutes to our favorite park or trail or to a local pet friendly store or even just a laid-back walk around the neighborhood. He seems to really appreciate this time, and so do I.

4. Make sure the younger canine gets lots of down time.

My puppy Remy has discovered to be alone in his crate for a few hours (usually just an hour or so) while I focus on other things, whether I’m home or not. This is essential for him because it teaches him he doesn’t have to be near me whatsoever times and he learns to unwind when alone and to be ok doing nothing (hard for a young weimaraner!).

5. plan things with both dogs.

I have had to be careful because Ace can be very grumpy with the puppy, but there are some things they can do together like short walks, easy training sessions and getting treats (peanut butter from a spoon!).

Of course, some dogs get along perfectly and want to be together all the time. It that’s the case you’ll have no need to “plan” time for them together.

Other dogs don’t get along all that well (like my two), so I have to thoroughly think ahead and manage them closely.

Now that Ace is feeling better (he was sick), I’m planning on starting a routine where I drive them somewhere fun together each Friday afternoon. At the very least, we will go on a group walk. It’s essential for them to have positive experiences together.

6. remember why you desired the second dog.

When I start to feel guilty about adding a second canine to our family, I remind myself why I desired a weimaraner in the first place.

I desired a running and hiking buddy, a canine that can walk to the beach, play for an hour and still walk home. I desired a canine to take to training classes and agility and walks around our town.

Ace can no longer do many of these things (his mobility is limited), and he would get left at home even if we didn’t have the puppy. So really, things haven’t changed all that much other than I’m a lot much more exhausted from entertaining a crazy little puppy!

So that’s how things are choosing us!

I composed about how Ace has been aggressive to the puppy, so we’re closely managing them. There will be ups and downs but it seems like things are getting slightly better. işte buradalar.

2018 update: Ace and Remy get along really well these days (12 yrs old and 2 yrs old). They’re not best pals by any implies but they hang out on the same canine bed practicallyher zaman!

2019 Güncellemesi: Ne yazık ki, kıdemli köpek ası vefat etti.

İkinci bir köpeğiniz olduğunda kendinizi suçlu hissettin mi?

Yorumlarda bize bildirin!

Does your dog know more than a 3-month old puppy kindergartner?

Of course she does, but I thought it would be fun to share what my puppy Remy is working on in Week 1 of puppy classes.

I know some of you also have new dogs or puppies and whether or not you take your pup to training classes (I recommend it!), these are some things you can work on at home with a dog of any age.

Puppy classes Week 1

Here are four things we’re working on this week.

1. “Watch Me.”

This simply means to make eye contact. A dog looking at you can pay attention.

I shortened the command to “watch.” So it’s, “Remy, watch.” You hold a treat right up to your face and the moment your pup makes eye contact, you give the treat. practice 10 times in a row each day. very simple and works well.

“Remy, watch.” Davranmak. “Remy, watch.” Davranmak.

Do your dogs know this one?

2. Coming when called – back to basics.

Anyone have a dog who ignores you when you call him?

Going back to the basics is a good idea for reinforcing “come!” because it’s probably the most important command to teach a dog.

With the puppies, we held a treat right up to their noses, ran backwards and THEN called them once they were already driven to follow us.

Bu nedenle bu:

get their attention
geri koş
call the puppy
ödül!

Come = fun & treats!

Other tip: Play “puppy in the middle” calling the puppy back and forth between two people.

3. A new situation each week.

For our puppy homework, our class is encouraged to have our puppies walk on a new surface every week. This could be things like sand, snow, pavement, rocks, shiny floors, concrete, leaves, whatever.

Sometimes new surfaces can seem scary or at least surprising for puppies so it’s good to expose them early on. See Puppy In Training’s post on this here.

For those of you with older dogs, it’s still a good challenge to try to introduce them to something different or new each week in general. This is fun for the dogs but also continues their ongoing socialization and experiences.

For example, visiting different dog friendly stores or cafes, walking in a different neighborhood or standing on a random “obstacle” like a picnic table during a walk. Remy walked on a new walking path last week (pictured above).

4. selecting a consistent release word.

A release word is the word that signals to your dog the training exercise is over. So if he’s sitting, he should sit until you say “OK!” or “Free!” or whatever word you choose.

I have always used “OK!” with my older dog Ace. Some advise against ok because it’s used so often in normal conversations and could potentially confuse the dog. This has never been a problem for me and I’ve chosen “OK” as Remy’s release word too.

You may or may not want to use the same release word for multiple dogs. It’s not a problem for my two, with Ace being so much older. Update: I ended up changing Remy’s release word to “break!” because “OK” is too common of a word in conversation and he was taking advantage of that! Haha.

The other basics we worked on this week were saying our puppy’s names for treats and luring them into a sit, but I figure most of your dogs have that down!

OK, so how is your dog doing on the above?

Which one could she use some work on? Remy needs lots of work on “come!”

40 percent of sales to go to Motley Zoo animal Rescue

I’ve partnered with Lightmark Arts to help raise money for Motley Zoo animal Rescue in Redmond, Wash. 

40% of sales from Lightmark Arts will go to Motley Zoo when you use code MOTLEY2 at checkout. You will also save 10% off your order. Buraya Tıkla.

I love seeing dogs in cars.

It’s when some dogs are the happiest – tagging along, hoping for adventure.

Photographer Rondi Lightmark has captured this happiness through her greeting card company Lightmark Arts.

Her 5 X 7 cards feature beautiful portraits of dogs in cars around Washington’s Vashon Island.

Click here to browse the cards

To make it easy, I chose a couple of cards (throughout this post) I thought many of you would like. If we all ordered just $20 worth of cards, we can make quite the impact for Motley Zoo. Buraya Tıkla.

More about Lightmark Arts and Vashon Island

Rondi Lightmark lives on Vashon Island, which is 20 minutes from Seattle by ferry.

She said 99 percent of her photos are taken on the island, and the area has lots of cool, old cars and trucks with dogs in them.

Her cards are about celebrating dogs in cars and that “ubiquitous delight we see on every road and in every parking lot whenever we venture out.”

I love these cards.

They remind me of my life in more rural areas like North Dakota and visiting family in northern California – places where it’s not such a big deal to bring your dog while you run an errand or to let your best friend ride in the back of a pickup on a quiet, county road.

I can’t wait to move to the country, and these cards make a statement to me about enjoying the simple things in life, about not getting tied up in silly dramas or politics like whether or not you should let your pup stick her nose out pencere.

Maybe I need to visit Vashon Island.

The cards are sold all over the united states (and in Canada too) in places like the Phoenix Art Museum, art galleries, coffee shops, hardware stores, veterinary clinics and at the gift shop of best friends animal society in Utah.

As Rondi said, the cards are sold “wherever dogs are loved.”

She said many of the dogs featured on the cards are no longer living, so it’s important to her that “their sweet spirits keep on giving all the same.”

Ordering info – Lightmark Arts greeting cards

Each card sells for $3.25. order here. use coupon code MOTLEY2 to get 10% off and donate 40% of your sale to Motley Zoo animal Rescue.

Cards are 5 X 7.

Cards are blank inside and come with a white envelope.

Check out the gallery of cat cards here.

More about Motley Zoo animal Rescue

Forty percent of sales will be donated to Motley Zoo animal Rescue when you purchase a card using coupon code MOTLEY2. You’ll also save 10%!

Motley Zoo is a nonprofit, foster-based animal rescue in Washington. It does not have an actual shelter facility, so the animals are housed in temporary foster families while they wait to be adopted into forever homes.

When Rondi asked me which cause I’d like to help for this post, I immediately thought of Motley Zoo.

jme Thomas works as a full time, volunteer executive director of Motley Zoo and she and her team make such a HUGE difference for dogs in the region and beyond. To date, the group has helped more than 1,600 animals find their loving homes.

Pictured is Quinn, a 10-year-old Chihuahua for adoption through Motley Zoo.

Which one of the cards from Lightmark Arts caught your eye?

Let me know in the comments below!

*And if you know someone who might like to order a greeting card, please share or email this post.*