Dogsitting 101
We're going out of town this weekend to retrieve #1 son from my uncle's farm. They've spent the past week together doing all kinds of male bonding things like driving tractors and 4-wheelers, swimming in the pond, looking for bears, inspecting fence lines, bush hogging and all the stuff I did when I was a kid growing up in farm country. Of course, when you HAVE to do that stuff...all the time, it's not so fun. But for a city kid like #1 Son it's an experience. Remind me to tell you how pathetic my city kids are when confronted with things like cow dung, horse poop and other memories from my childhood. It's a bit embarrassing. But I digress, as usual.
Our impending trip presented us with quite a dilemma. What does one do with a 400 pound senile Lab when one is leaving town? Putting her in a kennel is WAY to expensive, plus she'd be miserable. My BIL can't take care of her, as he is already weener-dog sitting for my MIL. It's really a bit much for my parents to come traipsing over here 3 times a day to let her out, etc. Luckily, our neighbors have offered to let Casey spend the weekend with them. Thank the Lord! She'll get to be with familiar people and a neighbor dog she likes.
And OK, Casey might be a bit shy of 400 pounds. Maybe 375? She's shorter than the average Lab, so she resembles a keg with feet. The poor girl is 11 and going really grey (I refuse to spend money on hair coloring for HER! Mine costs enough already). Did I mention she's senile? The adventures of Casey (and her being the bane of my existence) are fodder for many other posts. Let's leave it at the fact that I'm thrilled to have a "puppy sitter."
For those who might be thinking "Why not take her with?" let me leave you with a few lessons we learned after our last long road trip with the mutt. 1) I said before she's huge (around, not tall). Even in the politically incorrect SUVee action jeep she takes up a lot of space. The Prince and Princess of Wails tend to fight when bunched up together. That's good for no one. C. gets hoarse after several hours of yelling "If I have to pull this car over you guys are going to be sorry!" 2) The dog has a bladder the size of a lima bean, thus necessitating a stop about every 7 and a half miles. It makes the trip much longer. 3) The dog is also a bit of a moron. The last trip I drove 2 miles with the Little One screaming "Mommy, Casey's stuck!" at the top of her lungs. Upon further inspection I realized that the dog had shoved her head between the gap in the seat to fish for a pea sized crumb of a dog biscuit that the Little One had fed her (remember she's fat...wonder why?). She did, in fact, have her head stuck between the seats and was frantically trying to back out of her predicament thus clawing the cloth seats with her talons. All while traveling 70 miles an hour down the interstate. It's not good for my nerves.
Enjoy your weekend Casey. I know I will!
Cat
Our impending trip presented us with quite a dilemma. What does one do with a 400 pound senile Lab when one is leaving town? Putting her in a kennel is WAY to expensive, plus she'd be miserable. My BIL can't take care of her, as he is already weener-dog sitting for my MIL. It's really a bit much for my parents to come traipsing over here 3 times a day to let her out, etc. Luckily, our neighbors have offered to let Casey spend the weekend with them. Thank the Lord! She'll get to be with familiar people and a neighbor dog she likes.
And OK, Casey might be a bit shy of 400 pounds. Maybe 375? She's shorter than the average Lab, so she resembles a keg with feet. The poor girl is 11 and going really grey (I refuse to spend money on hair coloring for HER! Mine costs enough already). Did I mention she's senile? The adventures of Casey (and her being the bane of my existence) are fodder for many other posts. Let's leave it at the fact that I'm thrilled to have a "puppy sitter."
For those who might be thinking "Why not take her with?" let me leave you with a few lessons we learned after our last long road trip with the mutt. 1) I said before she's huge (around, not tall). Even in the politically incorrect SUVee action jeep she takes up a lot of space. The Prince and Princess of Wails tend to fight when bunched up together. That's good for no one. C. gets hoarse after several hours of yelling "If I have to pull this car over you guys are going to be sorry!" 2) The dog has a bladder the size of a lima bean, thus necessitating a stop about every 7 and a half miles. It makes the trip much longer. 3) The dog is also a bit of a moron. The last trip I drove 2 miles with the Little One screaming "Mommy, Casey's stuck!" at the top of her lungs. Upon further inspection I realized that the dog had shoved her head between the gap in the seat to fish for a pea sized crumb of a dog biscuit that the Little One had fed her (remember she's fat...wonder why?). She did, in fact, have her head stuck between the seats and was frantically trying to back out of her predicament thus clawing the cloth seats with her talons. All while traveling 70 miles an hour down the interstate. It's not good for my nerves.
Enjoy your weekend Casey. I know I will!
Cat
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