Oh My Dog!

obsessed with dogs

Link love

Happy Friday, everyone!

I snapped this on my phone when I got home last night. I let them out, but they just wanted attention!

I’m still getting used to being away from my guys, but they seem to be doing okay. Although, when I got home yesterday, Emmett went bonkers, jumping on me, licking me, hopping all around. He got himself so worked up, he made himself throw up. 🙁 I feel so terrible… but thank goodness for our dog walkers/affection givers!

A few links to share with you this week:

  • Only 6 weeks and a couple days left on the postcard deadline! We had a strong start, and they’re still trickling in, but I know we can get more! Encourage your friends, spread this around your networks! Let’s work together to #endBSL!
  • Purina and Kroger are giving away $150,000 to shelters across the US, and they’re filming a TV show about the human-animal bond. Go to Tales for the Pet Lover’s Heart to share your pet’s story for a chance to get on TV and vote for your favorite shelter to receive their donation.
  • There’s a bill in California (where else?) on pet health insurance reform. It’s interesting to me because only one million pets have health insurance, so I’m wondering if the reform is even necessary? Or could it get more people to purchase insurance for their pets?

Some shameless self-promotion:

  • I was lucky enough to be included on Grouchy Puppy in their Influence Positively questionnaire! I just love this site and was so excited to be included!
  • This week, I researched responsible pet retailers who give back to the animal community. It’s so worthwhile to shop with organizations that support animal welfare!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend relaxing and playing with your pups! I’m taking the boys up to my parents’ so they can romp with their good buddy Otto. I’m hoping the visit will tire them out so that next week will hopefully be easier than this week was.

What about you? Any fun weekend plans?

On hiring a dog walker

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?