I find that dog sitting is not unlike babysitting. Perhaps it is not quite as stressful but it is stressful nonetheless. And I’m not even the one officially dog sitting. It is my daughter’s job.
This isn’t her first pet sitting job. Her last job was pet sitting a wild jack rabbit someone had found when the rascally rabbit was just a baby. It was fond of punching with its paws and hiding under her bed. We thought Bugs was a handful but now we have a Boxer. His owner dropped him off yesterday morning and we will have this fellow for five whole days.
He’s sweet dog really. He’s not aggressive. He doesn’t dig holes or chew up lawn furniture. He’s just really active. He looks like a horse when he walks and a deer when he runs. His only downfall is barking and whining. He likes attention, constant attention. In his house he is an ‘only’ pet. In this house he is one among several and that is where most of the trouble stems.
Since his arrival I have not see our cat Sasha at all. She generally spends her days in the backyard but as soon as she saw the boxer she was out of there! Our black cat spends most of his day in the backyard as well. Now he’s spending his days indoors which is not his usual routine.
The chickens too do not like this new addition. The first time they saw him it set the whole bunch into a flutter. They were knocking into each other trying to get inside their coop as fast as possible.
Our dog didn’t seem too concerned about the boxer until we let it into the house last night. Apparently our dog considers the yard a place to share with friends but the house should be off-limits to visitors of the animal variety. He mildly growled his displeasure at the big dog intruder.
Of course, when the boxer comes inside we have to make sure our smallest cat is in another part of the house with the door closed. Being small she frightens easy and her fright can easily turn her into a vicious little cat with claws of fury. She will hurt anyone or anything that gets near her when she’s frightened.
And so despite playtimes and walks sometimes the boxer must stay outdoors by himself and he clearly doesn’t like ‘alone’ time. He then begins to bark to let us know he is alone and shouldn’t leave him alone…ever.
I think he is settling in a bit better today. After saying ‘no’ sternly to him several times, he gets the idea that he shouldn’t bark incessantly. He even napped on the lawn a bit. Now if he will learn to just sleep quietly in my daughters room without whimpering tonight things will be on their way to being perfect…well, maybe not perfect but much better.
