I May Never Dog-Sit Again...

The first time we dog-sat, it was quite the adventure. Tonight, we are dog-sitting a westie that Oscar hadn't met before this visit. I was told that she is very energetic and playful, so I figured she'd probably give Oscar a run for his money. It's been the busiest two hours of dog ownership ever!

It started raining when I brought her home, so when I got home and let them both out into the backyard to do their business, they were both wet and covered in dirt in no time. Oscar didn't even go for the first ten minutes because he was too busy chasing her. I had to separate them to make sure he did his business.

I brought them both inside to play so that they wouldn't get any wetter, and they engaged in some chase and intense bitey-face. All good. For a little while, at least.

And then...it began. First, the westie barfed a little - I think just from a combination of too much water, excitement and running around. There was nothing of substance that came up - just a little water - and she seemed fine. Okay, no problem. Then, not too long after that, I watched helplessly as she squatted and peed right on our living room floor, even though I had just seen her go outside.

So I took the dogs back out for her to go again, which she did. The westie somehow managed to get past (or over) the fence that we had around our vegetable garden, which right now is just a patch of dirt. Big dirty mess. I finally managed to get them both inside, which was difficult because as soon as one went in, the other would hesitate at the door, and the other would run back outside. I managed to separate them with some skillful e-pen/baby gate manipulation, then put them into the bathtub separately to rinse them off. The muddy pawprints will have to be dealt with tomorrow.

I let them back out into the living room to play, and then promptly stepped in a puddle. A huge puddle. Surprise! And also, gross. While I was cleaning that up, I discovered yet another puddle, right by the first (well, second) one. Really? Here we are talking about two dogs who never pee inside (or so I was told about the westie by her owner). But I know at least one of them did it, though I'm quite firmly on Oscar's side on this one, mostly because I saw one of the crimes being committed with my own eyes by the westie. And, to put it delicately, I checked if it was Oscar and it wasn't. I have taken the water bowl away.

The upside is that they did such a good job playing chase that they are now both pretty relaxed. We'll see how the rest of the evening goes.  If the last couple of hours are any indication, it should be pretty interesting. I'm hoping this means Oscar will be chilled out tomorrow!

Clearly, the theme of the evening.

Update: I just found two more puddles, and saw her pee a third time with my own eyes. Holy frijoles! That's six pees inside! How much urine can a 14 lb. dog generate? Seriously. This is total insanity. I'm going to have to let this dog out every five minutes...literally! Oscar's looking like an absolute champ right now, I can tell you that much. Can one buy stocks in Nature's Miracle?

Wordless Wednesday #9

The Discovery of Brilliance

I was hopping around on blogs that are part of the CatTipper/DogTipper Meet & Greet last night (see my last post to find out more if you'd like to join in), and found Kol's Notes. Kol mentioned a blog called Hyperbole and a Half. You know that feeling you get when you find something awesome, and you're just so excited that you've discovered it? That's how I felt last night. I read the latest post - about Allie and her Simple Dog's joyride - plus her post about how dogs don't understand concepts like moving and her post about the dog IQ test, and almost died laughing. Her observations are so entertaining, and the pictures are just hilarious. I'm clearly a latecomer to the greatness, because Allie already has over 50,000 followers. 50,000!! I'm proud that I have 47 - I can't imagine ever having that many people reading what I write. (Maybe I need to start drawing? Hmm.) Even though I have been slow to discover this blog, I'm happy because that means there's a whole entire history of funny posts to go through. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favour and stop by. If your sense of humour is anything like mine, you'll be happy you did.

A Blog Party!

DogTipper and CatTipper have organized a Meet & Greet Party, meant for bloggers to find new blogs and to get to know the new CatTipper site. As a relatively new blogger, I like discovering new pet blogs and websites that I haven't stumbled upon yet. Since the point of the Meet & Greet Party is also to introduce ourselves, here goes!

While Oscar is the undisputed star of the blog, I'm the blogger. Neither my husband nor I have had a dog before. Before we got Oscar, I did a lot of reading online about what breed would be best for us, and to learn about puppy care. After we got Oscar, I continued looking around online for tips and information about puppy care, training, and about what to expect.

When I discovered pet blogs, I started blogging about Oscar not only to share pictures of our cute puppy, but also to share stories about the joys and challenges of raising a very energetic and headstrong puppy. Once I started blogging, I discovered that pet bloggers are a friendly and helpful group of people, quick to share their own knowledge and experience - and pictures of their cute dogs too!

I've learned a lot from other bloggers, and it's always fun to read about other dogs, their adventures, and their many different personalities. It doesn't feel like very much time has passed since I first started blogging in December, but this is actually my 100th post! It's been much more rewarding than I ever would have thought.

I can't wait to blog hop during this Meet & Greet to discover even more wonderful and entertaining pet blogs. Thanks to Paris and John of DogTipper and CatTipper for organizing this blog party. Happy blog hopping!