Dog Days of Summer

Someone will have to explain this to me. During the Summer, my dogs, and those I take care of,. have easy breezy days of lounging in the A/C. If they have a dog door then they frequently lie outside in the SUN-sound asleep. They do not seem to crave A/C, nor do they seem uncomfortable outside. Dog Days of Summer must be a good thing, or maybe it was invented in the Northeast where summer is something to look forward to, definitely not in Texas where nothing beats a midday walk with the dogs, in broiling, bright 100 degree weather. Oh Well, it's July 30 and this weekend will herald the summer slide toward Fall. Just the word, Fall, makes me smile!!

The Cat from Hell!

To be honest, there have been 2 CFH, but one was in my care frequently which made the experience worse. When I met Kyle ( the name is changed to protect the owner), he was in his Mom's arms. She held him out, a large chocolate brown cat with long hair and beautiful green eyes. He let me pet him, and we continued the interview. Nothing unusual except that it was the tiniest Apt., I'd seen . Almost an efficiency, since you opened the front door into the bedroom. There was a small hall to the kitchen and a bathroom that opened into both rooms. That was it. The furniture was massive, so there was almost no room to move about. That first time I entered to care for Kyle, he was not immediately in sight. As I went down the short narrow hall to the kitchen I heard a shrill sound from behind. He was coming at me in a crouch, growling and hissing. I spoke quietly and well, tried to be calm and soothing. Forget it! He lashed at me every time I moved. Fast forward- 45 minutes later I was still in the Apt. I managed to get his food and water but now I was trapped in the small kitchen. He was in the kitchen and charged at me from under the table. If he was scared, well that was nothing compared to what he was doing to me. Finally, I saw a large magazine and held it in front of me, as a pathetic blind, to get him backing up. Another 10 minutes and I was finally out of there, exhausted. As I started down the outside stairs there was a sharp 'BANG' near my head and I almost tripped in fright. It was Kyle throwing himself at the window on the staircase. He was still trying to get to me!
Nothing changed, except that the owner finally had him declawed after he attacked a dinner guest coming out of the bathroom!
I tried to rationalize that the place was so small and the furniture so large, he had no place to go and was forced to protect his territory. So what! Every time I came it was the same. Launching himself off the chair at me, or from under the bed, just inches from the front door. I walked up those stairs with a knot in my gut. After trying many different types of distractions, pennies in a can, jangling my keys, etc., finally I fashioned a large cardboard screen that I kept in front of me as I went through his place.
His owner loved him, and was oblivious to the fact that she had gone through several sitters who told her the cat was the worst they had seen. I knew her experience but could not believe he was that bad. After that I was committed, knowing she would never be able to get anyone else, and I was too stubborn to be defeated. When she asked me to pick up the things that Kyle would knock off the dresser, we had a frank discussion about my role. There was no way I was going to bring my face near the floor with Kyle under the bed! This should do it-she would fire me! No way! She said, 'OK, no problem.' I took care of Kyle for more than 2 years. When his owner told me she was moving to Lubbock, I cried with joy!

A Birthday Celebration

If  I  finish work early, I take my Charlotte to her pre-agility class on Wednesday nights. I may have mentioned our permanent resident status in the course in a previous post. We are woefully behind because of my back problems, and surgery, I had most of last year. Last week I held a slightly premature birthday celebration for Charlotte. We had bottles of my favorite wine from Carmel, and birthday cake. The women in the class are amazing, all dedicated to their dogs and to the class. Thought you might enjoy a picture of our 'class party'.  That's me opening the wine at the table. There are about 8 of us.  Not your usual training class!

Cat owners vs. Dog owners, at least this week!

For some reason, all my dog owners went away last week. This makes for a long day and a late night. Inexplicably many of my cat owners are going away this week and next. There is a little difference between 'Dog  people' and 'Cat people' when they go out of town. Everyone worries about their pets while they are away. I do have to say that lately I get more calls, or texts, from worried 'cat' parents during their trips. You are surprised, right?  Dog owners don't really worry that much. They may miss them, but that is different. Cat owners worry that 'kitty' may stop eating, throw up, or pick another spot to potty, if they are too stressed by their owners absence. Frankly there is some truth to that. Dogs will want to bond when I come in, but cats, even those I know well,  don't like the changing of the routine, and take longer to relax. It falls on deaf ears if I explain, sweetly, that this is better than boarding. That is not even a possibility to them they know, for it would result in serious consequences once they got back home. Many of my cat owners have tried boarding once or twice and then decided kitty's wrath was worth hiring a sitter. They are little but mighty when pissed!

All in a morning's work

This morning, while talking to my sister, I walked upstairs in a duplex to take care of 4 charming cats. The owners travel for work so I am at the house regularly. Telling my sister I will call her back, my greeting to the cats begins as I pick up their bowls. The place is pretty dark, and as I walk into the bedroom up pops the husband. A brief heart attack develops from the shock as  he says- 'don't be scared' (too late for that), 'I meant to e-mail you last night.'  Catching my breath and saying , "no problem", I continue to get the food bowls. At that point, still in the dark, he attempts to give me the new changes to the schedule. At this point it seemed  reasonable to point out that it is risky to assume I will remember this and I will e-mail him later. He gets up, which I assured him was not necessary, and he goes into the bathroom, I assume. Quickly finishing up the food and cleaning the litter box- I am out of there! This is not a unique encounter as schedules frequently get changed by clients that travel a lot. However they usually call out before I run into them , or I see their luggage. The 'surprise' element does not happen often- thank God- it is aging!

Time is short

In order to explain the delay in writing, I will give a quick, or not so quick, example of an average Summer day. Alarm goes off at 5:15-hit snooze. 9 minutes later( I pick a clock with the longest snooze time) it goes off again. I briefly think of my schedule and decide I can only afford one more 'snooze'. It's not that I go back to sleep it is just hard to get up knowing how busy the day will be. Get up, feed the dogs/cats and get ready. If I wasn't too tired, hopefully I made my schedule the night before. Make coffee, and try to get out by 6:30. My working hours are just that-working. There are no coffee breaks, chatting at someone's desk, etc., it is constantly going from one client to another. So the morning goes from about 6:30 to 10:30. Come home, get on the computer and respond to clients inquiries. I should be back out by 12 but usually it is closer to 12:30. Midday clients and home around 3. Catch up on returning client calls, check e-mails, feed the dogs/cats and leave the house again around 4:30 -5. Early evening and late clients gets me home around 9:30 - 10. Dinner, and unwind, a glass of wine. Go into my office and do the schedule for tomorrow. Also now-write this blog, and in bed between 11- 11:30. If it runs later than this, the blog will have to wait for a lull in the action!