Saturday, July 24, 2010

Pet Sitting...........




I'm on the second leg of my marathon pet sitting run and I guess if you have to do a job as tough as this one, it is always good to have great scenery. And, of course, suffer with an inground pool with a temp of 90 degrees!!!! And to think I gave up the graveyard shift of dispatching for this.......!!!!

Friday, July 2, 2010

The big furry loves of my life.......


I have always had pets in my life - the occasional stray dog or cat when I lived at home with my parents and many too numerous to list ever since. Most of the time the dogs were small to medium in size and at one time I actually considered my springer spaniel to be rather large. That, of course, was before I was introduced to Dodger and Jack......

Dodger is the larger of the two weight wise and is tan and black in color. Slightly overweight ( let's say portly to be nice), he weighs in around 240. Dodger is believed to be between 6 and 7 years old. Jack (short for Jackson) is a little over 2 and still a puppy. He weighs in around 180. Jack's favorite toy, which he plays with in the yard, is his bowling ball. He has become quite adept at picking it up and dropping it on my foot....

In my attempt to find something for Jack to play with in the house, and knowing a bowling ball was out of the question for obvious reasons, I opted for one of the milk bone toys with the knotted rope running through the center and hanging out on both sides lengthwise. My idea was great and Jack caught on right away to the fact that this was a fun thing to play with......however......
These toys are not made for a dog over 20 pounds !! Dodger got in on the action right away with no encouragement and the sound of ripping and tearing material could be heard throughout the house. After picking up handfuls of fiberfill stuffing that came from inside the bone part of the thing, I managed to salvage the rope. Not nearly as much fun I am sure, but much less mess to clean up. Someone out there needs to make a toy that the boys can have fun with in the house while not destroying the toy or the premises.............

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Graveyard Shift....


I strongly believe that if you have worked as a police dispatcher you are destined to never again in your lifetime sleep like a normal person!! This is the second night this week that I have seen 4AM come and go. I am blaming the lack of sleep on my previous life style as I can't come up with any other logical reason. I'm not worried about anything that should be keeping me awake and I can't blame it on the dogs as they are not sleeping with me. I did do something to my back a couple of weeks ago and I have been to see the chiropractor a few times now. My back is feeling much better but we haven't been walking the beach at night nor have we been swimming the past few days as the afternoon showers seem to be starting. I suppose lack of exercise could have something to do with not sleeping also.
I start my marathon pet sitting this coming week. Staring July 7 through the middle of August I am booked solid. Nice for me - not so much for husband. The first 10 days will be in Sarasota so I will be able to have dinner with my son and cousin, and hopefully Steve will drive up for a couple of family meals. After that the job is closer to home so I will see more of Steve. The extra money will be nice but I'm not so sure about being away from home for such an extended period of time. I will miss the mastiff boys and will have to make sure I get down here to the house to see them.