It’s wonderful how things work out…one day, between sits, we went to a dog park to get a “doggie fix” and happened upon a lovely couple with two little ones at play — a very independent and strikingly handsome West Highland white terrier (Augie) and a somewhat shy “mommy’s girl” cairn terrier mix (Abby).
As it turns out, the couple were going on a cruise, and were really concerned about kenneling them, particularly little Abby, who was a pretty recent rescue and very attached to her mom. Happy to find out there was a dog boarding alternative for their two, the couple kept in touch with us and in short time, we were seeing them off on their cruise!
Fortunately, both dogs, particularly little Abby, were happy to have two new people to love! For them, everything other than mom and dad being out of the house was pretty normal — walks, morning brush outs, meal times, chasing lizards on the lanai :), copious belly rubs and cuddles, night treats, snuggling up at bed time, everything they’re used to, just different peeps on the “delivery” end!
And that’s exactly why we love providing an in home dog boarding service as a dog kennel alternative — of course animals are very sensitive, it can be very stressful when the hand that feeds them is gone, and compounding that with relocation and a total disruption in schedule can be a little (or a lot) traumantic for some!
For us, stepping into being a great dog parent and caring for people’s homes (and plants! The variety and abundance of indoor and outdoor flora was amazing!), is a challenge, and really personally rewarding. Abby and Augie are heart-stealers!
Abby is curious, a terrier-tenacious flusher of prey (on the ground and airborne, chasing birds in flight is on her wish list, for sure 🙂 ), a loving kisses-monster, and a crafty belly rub manipulator — if you make eye contact, she’s “in position” as you blink!
Augie…Augie, Augie, Augie. Handsome, joyful at play, inquisitive, persistent and willful (okay, stubborn), independent, good-natured (when he’s not on high-alert), and a loving snuggler — he’s kind of a Tom Sawyer of the dog world persona, endearing in his exploits even though and probably because of his tendency toward mischief!(we put together a little video of him, linked here).
We often tell people one of the hardest things for us in our in home pet sitting and is leaving the little ones we’ve grown to so love…we miss these two and their antics, but we know they have two of the most genuine dog parents two pups could have!
