The dog that had it all!

Very occasionally I do a bit of pet sitting. So far this year I have done it twice. It is a nice way to have the joy of a dog or dogs and other pets - mostly in very large, well-appointed properties. And, so it was last week that I had a four-day break with two dogs and a long-suffering cat. I mention this because this pet sit was so different and I more than fell in love with a naughty pup!

The house I did the sit in has potential and when the extension is finished it will be palatial. Unfortunately, between agreeing to the sit and doing it there had been a number of delays in the building work. It meant I had to take the dishes to be washed in another room and the floor of the extension was freezing cold. There were workers popping in doing bits while I was there so I knew it was a work in progress.

Add to the mix an 8-month-old golden retriever. He is gorgeous but like retrievers in general he ate everything. He managed to get the big bag of dog food off the table while I was out of the room and tuck into it. He ate my bread from the table while I popped to the next room to get cutlery and he ate my slipper. This meant that I had to walk around the cold floor in stocking feet. Argh.

The poor cat was terrorised by this pup. I had to keep her food out of his way. He even tried to eat her plastic bowl. I put everything I could on top of the fridge. Nowhere was far enough out of this dog’s way. However, when I sat in the snug and watched TV, this pup wasn’t content to sit near me. He had to sit on top of me. He was a larger-than-life, loveable mutt.

Now I am back home and into my normal routine. A little highlight was having a small birthday party for Nasser who is getting very old! Danielle brought the girls over and Ezra-Mae showed how well she can behave at the table. She really was grown up. Danielle made a birthday cake which probably had about 1000 calories a slice so we ate off each other’s plate so the calories didn’t count.

I have also finished my swim challenge this week. I have swum 150 miles since March 20^th. I have been away for more than 6 of those weeks too. With all the swimming, eating calorie-packed cake shouldn’t be a problem but it is. Perhaps I should get a dog of my own and take it for long walks as well as swimming. Maybe that should be my New Year’s resolution – More exercise; less cake!

 

Winter is upon us