For as long as we’ve had Emmett and Lucas, one of us has worked from home. It’s been both lucky and fortunate, especially considering all the behavior problems we faced with each of them post-adoption.
Last week, though, I accepted a two-month, full-time, on-site copywriting gig. On-site. Not in my house. So not only did I have to ditch my yoga pants and fuzzy slippers, but I had to deal with leaving the boys home for nine hours a day for the first time in their little lives. To top it off, John is out of town for two weeks, so I was sort of stuck with some evening meetings I already had scheduled.
So bring on the best pet sitters I could’ve imagined!
Thanks to all of you and your helpful hints, I was armed with questions for our first meeting. Turns out, these ladies are fantastic, and I am so happy and relieved I found them through my awesome neighbors. As someone who is obsessed with making sure my pups are happy and healthy, these ladies totally deliver. They leave little notes every day that are just adorable, follow all the rules we have for the boys, and give them lots of exercise and affection.
They took the time to go through a number of questions and our household routines. Although, I feel like I forgot to mention a million things: our backdoor sticks, sometimes Lucas doesn’t do on-leash greetings so well, Emmett is a counter-surfer and doesn’t chew his treats, and on and on. Guess I should leave some notes! 🙂
Anyway! Monday was the first day they came, and they so thoughtfully emailed me pictures of their visit – including a play session with Cady, the pup next door! (Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.)
So, again, thank you all for your encouragement and suggestions! This turned out to be far less stressful than I thought.
But I’m wondering: What do you do with your pups if you work outside the home? How did you get him/her accustomed to being home alone? Do you use a pet sitting service?
how many dogs u have?
I have two dogs, Emmett and Lucas! The third dog pictured is Cady, our next-door neighbor’s dog who is Lucas’ BFF!
I work from home. My dog Kelly follows me from room to room, even if I’m only moving a few feet away she gets up and follows. I don’t know how she’d handle it if she had to be left alone all day. Makes contemplating a vacation or anything a bit difficult.
That is exactly how I felt, Peggy!! Having worked from home for so long, we had a perfect work routine that included breaks for walks and snuggles, and both boys followed me between my desk and the coffee pot all day long. I was super stressed about taking this gig – one he one hand it was too good to pass up, on the other, I was worried about the boys. So far, so good! The dog walkers are saving the day!
Our dogs are alone during the day and I feel so bad 🙁 We don’t know of any reliable dog walkers that we could trust alone in our house and with our mutts. They seem to not be too traumatized when I get home, but I always feel bad!
Hello Maggie, Emmett and Lucas! Wow! I recently went through the same angst and it took me about a month before I felt less guilty about going off-site to work all day.
Before I started my full-time office job, both my husband and I worked at home – with Stella and Athos our favorite fuzzy assistants. We all were living the good life with lots of walks, frisbee breaks, and ear and belly rubs. Then I got a full-time job and my husband had to be gone for two months!
Fortunately, I there’s a local doggie daycare – trydoghouse.com – that is like doggie Disney. They have a big swimming pool, play rooms, big grassy lawn and some of the coolest humans ever. Stella and Athos go there twice a week. And then the rest of the week, I just make sure to get them out for a good hour hike after work. So far it is working and they are happy and tired at the end of the week days. And then we have the weekends to really tear it up together!
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment! I am definitely going to check out the Dog House; thanks for the recommendation. I’m sure Emmett and Lucas would have a blast playing with Stella and Athos!