Puppies

Over the years, every experience I had with other people's pets became fodder for future jobs.  I thought I had enough variety to prepare me for this job. I had worked with single pet families, ones with too many and others who preferred a mixture. Cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, tropical fish and the occasional exotic filled my hours away from home.  Thankfully the only exotic had been a green slider turtle!  I never accepted a job to care for anything that crawled or slithered. My mental tool kit, however, was lacking any usable gadget when it came to a pair of blonde Cocker Spaniel puppies.

This job came by means of a recommendation from a long time client. It's been so many years, that details are evasive, but those puppies, I remember.  I recall their owner to be a retired, refined woman whose life was an open book...literally, every table top had an opened Bible.  I won't go there...

Her home was not puppy proof.  In her mind, one baby gate blocking the master bedroom from the en suite, would be fine. In that sequestered tiled bathroom, were pee pads and a water dish. A well stocked counter top of floor and multi purpose cleaners cluttered an otherwise pristine bathroom.
A mop and bucket were tucked into a corner.

Their food bowls were in the kitchen with an additional water source on the wooden tiered deck.
The absence of any fencing in the yard left me wondering if she was experienced with "puppydom".

Puppies are stupid. Charming yes, good smelling, yes, but dumber than the proverbial rock. Multiply that times two and you will begin to understand that this was THE ONLY TIME, I made an exception to my no dog under a year old rule.

I would take a special needs pet over a puppy any time.  IV drips, syringes, splints, casts, and three legged animals had nothing over them.

I was ill prepared and extremely willing which was a bad combination. Three days ran together
in a blur and not the slow motion variety.  Puppies function on warp speed because they can.
What they eat comes back out rather quickly.  They don't understand the need to circumvent
the mess. So, frequent paw washing was required.  Thankfully, the laundry room was between the master suite and the kitchen, so it was a routine we established on day one.

Our days began around 5:00 A. M. Puppies were already up and ready for breakfast.  One puppy to the laundry tub and then to a kennel.  Second pup ditto except, I kept him wrapped in a towel and let the first one out. Two sprinted to the kitchen for meal time.  Once last bite was consumed, both out to the deck and yard.  Having to teach them how to navigate the steps to the lawn took considerable bribing. Grass was wet at that pre dawn hour.  They'd rather not. But...if there were enough bugs hopping, they'd give it a go.  Sometimes the bugs didn't head in the same directions, so I had two puppies scattered across five or six unfenced yards.  Thankfully, grass slowed them down and I could scoop one and then the other.  To finish the exercise period, we'd wander the deck and investigate the good smells wafting from the container gardens.

The arbor was overflowing with petunias.  Their dripping sweetness invited further inspection. Tired out, it was time for a nap and back over the baby gate they went.  At this point, I had to clean up and dispose of any soiled pads.  That was a game they both loved. Seems the pee pad I wanted to remove was the exact one I couldn't have because one of the dogs was dragging it across the floor.

Yelps and attempts to goad my guilty conscience followed me out the front door and into the car.

This schedule was repeated every three hours except for the final visit around eleven P. M. The daylight challenges were met with a sense of accomplishment because I could SEE them.  Post sunset necessitated every available exterior light and a personal flash light.  After dark invited nature to encroach on the spans of open yards; that included native wildlife and an occasional misplaced neighbor's dog.  I was lucky to only encounter a couple of box turtles, one snapping variety, bunnies and a non venomous snake. Each a potential playmate!  Funny, the owner hadn't thought to purchase any collar, leash or harness. So to answer my earlier question as to whether she had experience in puppydom that would be  a "nooooooo".

It is hardly fair to say that I had any success in their training.  Seventy two hours is nothing
to a young mind.  Everything in their lives was instinctual.  Eat, poop, pee, play, nap and repeat.
Sadly, the owner suffered an injury chasing one of them up a hallway.  Her recovery period
was extensive and she was unable to keep them.  I don't know what happened.

Too many years have passed since that one and only time I cared for the pair of very, very young of the canine variety. I recall the house and the woman very well.  I pass by the neighborhood and memories color my otherwise uneventful drive down the interstate.

I always hope for the best, try not to judge or question that over which I have no control.

I choose to remember the hours of joy we shared for it was predestined to be a labor of love
on my journey as a professional pet sitter.