Adventures in Pet-sitting

I pet-sat for my friends this weekend and a good time was had by most, if not all, humans and animals involved. They have two dogs, one cat, and numerous fish. It was a simple task, letting Pippin outside to follow nature's call, feed Daisy (outside dog) and make sure all was well. I go over there and first go into the garage to fill up Daisy's water and food dishes. Her water was frozen so I was reaching in to fill it up and she comes tearing through the doggy door. Kinda freaky, because you don't know when she's coming, she just busts through the door. I finally manage to get the dish out without being bitten (playfully) and jumped on to death. I go inside and let Pippin out. I let him in the back gate, not thinking that one dog goes in, and only one is supposed to come out again. I decide I'll figure that out later and go fill up their water dishes and feed the fish. I then go outside to let only Pippin out. Hmm...not as easy as I thought. The gate only opens out, so opening it just a little and blocking it won't work. I try and open it a little, and use the knee approach, but Daisy comes barreling through and pushes past me and Pippin. Now both dogs are out so I go to the front door and open it, knowing it'll at least entice Pippin to come inside.

They both take and bait and go leaping into the house. Daisy slips on the linoleum floor and goes crashing into Pippin's water dish, so water goes flying everywhere. She then proceeds to run circles from the living room, back to the kitchen. Pippin is all excited, so he's barking and Callie (cat) is no where to be found (smart cat). I try to get Daisy to hold still for a second so I can get her back outside but she wants none of that. Enough! I squat down and ready myself for impact and let her run into me on her next pass. I grab her and try to haul her out by the scruff of her neck. Not so much. So, I finally reach down and pick her up. I'm making my way to the front door, trying not to slip on the water, holding a big black mass o' squirming puppy fun. I reach the door and open it and Pippin tries to slip by me. I slam my knee into the door frame, foiling his scheme. I regain my grip on Daisy and slip out the door, leaving a barking Pippin inside. Outside, I'm gaining ground on my destination, trying to avoid being smacked in the head by Daisy's head. She does a little quick turn to the left manuver and manages to lick my face and get a quick nip on the ol' ear. Seizing the opportune moment, she wriggles to the right, and frees herself. I quickly run to the gate and start saying "come here Daisy! Come here!" in the most excited voice I could muster. She thinks I have something wonderful for her and comes bounding in the yard. HA! Victory! Then, with a sinking heart, I realize that she's between me and the gate. After a few failed attempts, I shut the gate with her and me inside and then jump over, after I release her teeth from my leg. That done, I salvage my pride and go inside and clean up the water. I collapse on the couch and Callie makes her grand entrance. AH, the one sane pet around here. She looks at me and walks to a mat o' fun on laying on the floor. It's one of those things you put a baby on and it has dangly things they can play with. It also has a circle of plastic on it, for what reason, I know not. Callie goes and sits on the plastic and starts her grooming process. Then, she gets up slightly and looks at me. What are you doing cat? I head a noise, and then I realize that she has decided to use the mat as her litterbox. And to top it all off, she has diarrhea. Awesome.

The next days weren't so bad. I finally figured out how to only let one dog out. But now, Pippin takes off running every time I let him in our out. So twice, I had to trudge through the snow and haul him back. All in all, a good time was had.