Doggie Camp
Spring is right around the corner. Yeah! I can hardly wait. The Purple Martins have already returned and are busy making their nest in our bird house in the back yard. Love
to hear them singing in the morning and evenings. 
New puppy is a bit confused though. All the other birds run from her, but these? They taunt her, watch her from the safety of their post high in the air. Just wait till the baby birds are born and mommy and daddy start dive bombing poor puppy. I’ll be ready with my camera for sure. But it’s only funny when the birds do this to other animals. It’s not the least bit funny if you find yourself the target. Unnerving doesn’t even come close to expressing the feelings that course through your body.
With the arrival of spring, I find myself having to make a difficult decision. Where to leave new puppy. Am I the only one that finds it difficult to leave their pet for an extended length of time? We’ve had dogs all my life, left them outside in the cold and rain growing up and I never gave it a second thought. But now that I’ve gotten a bit older, we don’t have to know exactly how much older, the fact our new pup will be left on her own is tearing me up inside.
We are planning our next ski trip and the new puppy will have to spend at least eight long days in a kennel. She’s only 10 months old and hasn’t learned how to entertain herself yet, so I really don’t feel like it’s a good idea to leave her at the house and just have someone come check on her and feed her. This little puppy has stolen my heart in these short ten months. I’m such a sap. LOL She’s under foot at all times, must know exactly where you are and what you’re doing. I know she’ll be taking good care of, but leaving her behind just seems so wrong. LOL
We’ll be off having fun, enjoying the beautiful snow and ambience while she’s laying in a strange room wondering what she did wrong. No, no, no. Must not think of it like that! A dear friend said to think of it like she’s at a doggie camp, having fun with her new friends. I really like that idea.
Anyone have any tips to help make it easier on the puppy? Shoot, who am I kidding? Anyone have any tips on how to make it easier on me. LOL
P.S. I waited and waited, and tried at least three different times, to get a picture with birds on that house. I managed to sneak a shot and catch one before she saw me. There are at least 8 Purple Martines I’ve counted so far. Geesh….
Feb 25, 2013 @ 04:37:16
If you don’t have a kennel you love, shop around. We asked out vet for recommendations and I noticed he did NOT recommend the place next door.
When we got the cats we stopped using the kennel. At $20 per pet per day it was craziness. Now we hire a college student to stay at the house while we’re gone. It’s $20 a day. She loves getting out of her apartment to privacy for a couple weeks–says its like being paid to be on vacation. The pets get more human contact and the house is not empty.
Keri Stevens recently posted..50 Shades of…Alpha? Dom? Whaaa???
Feb 25, 2013 @ 11:11:45
Funny how doctors are like that, Keri. Our dentist didn’t recommend the orthodontist next door either. LOL Wish I knew some college kids. That sounds like the perfect solution.
Melissa Ohnoutka recently posted..Authors, Writers and Readers Together at Last!
Feb 25, 2013 @ 05:24:00
Puppies would be a good paranormal character, they have a ‘love-me smell’ and are so darn cute -even if one might be the Devil’s Spawn! Four years ago a woman near Charlotte was raided: 500 animals on 2 acres (including a 4 kids, llama and a horse!) She had 35 siberians in crates! The Siberian Rescue was calling everyone for fostering. No adoptions, since they were ‘evidence’ for an upcoming trial. We already had 2 but I went down and took two to foster. One was so pathetic -weighed only 25lbs and unknown to anyone: 1 week pregnant! We ended up keeping both mom and her puppy –whom I still call ‘my little splat’.
The Mighty Quinn ( http://siberiangulag.wordpress.com/gang-fou/mighty-quinn/ ) has really wormed his way into my heart. I have a woman come in to clean twice a month and she loves the dogs. When we go on vacation, she house-sits. She is an adult college student and likes the quiet time with the dogs while she studies and writes papers. She only requires a full fridge and wine… lol. The dogs miss us but having someone in the house to feed and play is golden! I strongly suggest conning, conniving and luring a trusted dog sitter into your life!
Cristine Gasser recently posted..A Valentine’s Wish
Feb 25, 2013 @ 05:27:27
I forgot to add, the birds pester them too –to steal fluffy fur for nests! And the hummingbirds buzz them when the feeders are empty -I guess they think the dogs can get me to fill them! Also, I love your Martin House! I’ve always wanted one!
Cristine Gasser recently posted..9-5 and settling in
Feb 25, 2013 @ 11:15:00
What a beautiful dog, Cristine!!
Love your story too. I’m going to do some checking around with the neighbors. See if they have someone they are keeping a secret. LOL
Melissa Ohnoutka recently posted..Authors, Writers and Readers Together at Last!
Feb 25, 2013 @ 11:16:23
LOL Sounds like a conspiracy to me!!
Melissa Ohnoutka recently posted..Authors, Writers and Readers Together at Last!
Feb 25, 2013 @ 06:23:29
The mockingbirds just to sit on the phone lines outside out our house and dive bomb our cat! Mean little birds!
We have never boarded our dogs. Heck, we drove a motorhome for years just so we could take them with us! BUT before the motorhome, we used to hire someone to stay with them. When I used to teach, we would use one of my nursing students. For years, my hubby’s MIL (mother of his deceased first wife) used to come and stay. She did that until the day came when her mental and physical health would no longer allow it. My parents have “babysit” for us in the past. I never worried about our “kids” when they were being babysat!
Would I board my kids now? If I could find a place I liked, that treated the girls well, that had a good place for them to play, etc…then yes.
BUT, at your puppy’s young age, I would not leave her alone with someone coming in and out. I would almost promise she would get into trouble during her alone time!
If I were you, I would start call my writer friends, my social friends, etc. Someone has a daughter or son (trustworthy!) who would love to stay at your place.
Feb 25, 2013 @ 11:18:10
Thanks for all this great advice! Looks like my best option is to find me a pet sitter. Yep. That will make us all feel better.
Melissa Ohnoutka recently posted..Authors, Writers and Readers Together at Last!
Feb 25, 2013 @ 08:46:54
Melissa, I don’t know where you are but my son and my daughter in law take their dog to Doggy Day Care. It’s in Fort Worth. Amazing place where the people on their trip can even use their apps on their phone to check up on their dogs, er puppies. I totally feel your pain. I got so upset because they kept leaving her outside all the time — she’s a labrador mix, but they moved to this house with all kinds of trees–and squirrels — and she WANTS to be out there. Except when it’s lightening. Anyway, I want you to have fun on your ski trip so ideally you can find something like this! Hugs!
Donnell recently posted..Help! I’ve Lost My Noodle
Feb 25, 2013 @ 11:20:08
Donnell, now I like that idea too. An app for your phone? Wow, I’m so behind this technology curve. We have a doggie door for our pup. She loves the outside and can come and go as she pleases. I think that’s why I’m having a hard time thinking about her being locked up for most of the day.
Thansk for the hugs!!!
Feb 25, 2013 @ 11:37:37
Melissa: We take our dog to Dogtopia. It’s indoors, but the dogs are out of their kennels most of the day in one of two playrooms. Mine likes to play with the people more than the dogs, but I like that she’s not stuck inside all day.
To ease her transition, I take the pillow that’s in her home crate and a familiar toy so she has some things from home. We also take her food so she’s not eating strange food on top of everything else. She loves it there. And if she stays more than four days, they give her a free bath!
BTW, your book (Faithful Deceptions) was in my Amazon weekly recommendation email today!
Gwen Hernandez recently posted..Scrivener for plotters with Hope Ramsay
Feb 25, 2013 @ 14:28:26
You’ve already gotten any advice I could give.
We never used a kennel, only a petsitter, but our dog was older and used to being home alone all day (like, 10 hours at a time all day). I agree, yours is probably too young for that, even if the sitter came three times a day. (When she’s older, pet sitters are also great because they take care of mail/newspaper/trash and are a burglar deterrent).
There is a “doggie camp” near us that was highly recommended. They had outdoor time and plenty of loving and care. But it would have cost us almost as much as our vacation! LOL
Good luck finding someone to stay at the house. As for leaving her, I have no advice to make you feel better! LOL
Natalie J. Damschroder recently posted..I Hate Webmail…and Hey! Supernatural Sisters is Back! Kind Of.
Feb 25, 2013 @ 16:27:08
I have no advice, just a horror story, because of course that’s what you need right now. Our whole family went off to the lake for a few days last summer. We turned all of the horses out into different pastures, with my number one rope horse, the brood mare and the baby colt in the one closest to the house. When we came home, they were GONE. Someone had left the gate just propped shut instead of latched, and it blew open in the wind.
I freaked. My child learned a whole new vocabulary as we bounced around frantically searching for them, imagining the worst. Luckily, we found them a mile from the house, in the hay yard, hanging out across the fence from another bunch of horses. No so luckily the baby had a cut on his shoulder, but it was only a flesh wound and healed up nicely. And I guarantee, after the way I reacted, nobody leaves the gate just propped any more.
Kari Lynn Dell recently posted..And So It Begins…Again
Feb 26, 2013 @ 11:35:56
I feel your pain. The first time we left our new dog at home, I didn’t want to put him in a kennel. I thought if we were gone, the familiar would comfort him and because he was a rescue dog, I didn’t want him to think he was being abandoned again. My sister was supposed to come every day and feed, play and take him outside to do his business. We sectioned off the area of the house without carpets and there you go. We came back to a … oh my words don’t describe it. I walked in the door and gagged.
I think I scrubbed the kitchen floor three times and it was only a weekend!
Sorry, no good advice, except maybe not to leave your dog with my sister. Oh, and it’s always harder on us than it is on them. (I apply this to children too.) ; )