Success!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I've been busy with house sitting, doggies, and of course the festivities have begun!

Good News! Duchess and Foxy indeed found a new home and very nice one at that. I haven't seen them in their new digs, but reports are that they are happy with their new people and have a yard to run in as well as nice walks in the morning. Happy ending indeed.

I will blog a bit more soon, for now, just wanted to update you from my last post.

Sandy

A Place in Heaven

I'm sitting with two dogs (Mackey and Shadow) for about four days. Their people are off on a well-deserved getaway and for good reason.

About three weeks ago, while walking their own dogs, they came across two obviously stray and probably abandoned dogs who simply adopted them on the spot. These two people, with all their heart and love of dogs worked to find the owners and when that failed have been caring for them while trying to find a home for the two dogs.

They are housing both in a neighbor's yard (while the people are out of town). They go over twice a day to walk them, as well as a couple times a day to feed and nuture them. They have a friend who has also taken on the job of walking and visiting this pair of dogs. Between them, they have managed to save the two from the Human Society (certain death?) and kept the dogs together as they are obviously a pair.

Let me introduce you to Duchess and Foxy. Duchess is a fully grown white German Shepard female. Foxy a sweet mix of chow and terrier giving her a redish brown coat and a very friendly dispostion. Duchess is cautious with anyone. She would be considered skitterish, but after only a day and a half of visiting with her, she now lets me pet her and takes small bits of food from my hand. I've learned, however, to sit quietly and calmly for a few minutes before she will approach. Otherwise, she starts and runs to the corner of the yard. It is sad to see.

I have decided that my two clients and their friend have all earned a place in heaven for taking care of these dogs. Both would love to adopt them, but space considerations make it impossible as both have two dogs already and too small of houses to take in two more.

I'm hoping someone will respond soon so these animals can find a good home. I know and understand that there are hundreds, thousands, maybe more abandoned and needy dogs. But these two are the ones I know. I'll update you and add a picture of them later.

For the Love of Dogs

I know we have all heard that a dog is man's best friend. I recently learned that a man(person) is a dog's best friend as well. To me, that means there is a very strong relationship between a dog and a human being.

What a lovely thing to have!!! And I am beginning to suspect that we can have similar relationships with all animals. But dogs do seem to be so special!

Today I met a wonderful little Pappion (sp?). He was the happiest guy. All dogs are usually friendly, but this fellow just radiated friendliness. Of course, I responded in a positive way to him and you know, it felt good to enjoy that little dog. It felt wonderful to see him enjoy it too.

I was his best friend for those few moments and he was mine. Lovely!!

So, as a housesitter, I get the distinct pleasure to sit with many, many dogs. Each one is an individual, each one wants nothing more than to please me (and get a few doggie treats!). And I believe I benefit from it.

So thank you all you dogs that have been my best friend. I hope you found me a best friend too!

Arf
Sandy

I stand corrected

A few posts back, I talked about marker dogs and sniffer dogs. Well, I stand corrected about a couple of things.

I made the generalization that male dogs did more marking than female. The little terrier mix named Flora, that I sat for this week is a distinct exception.

Flora is a sniffer and a deliberate marker too. She still doesn't out-do the male -Mackey of whom I wrote before, but she did her share of peeing when she was obviously just marking a spot and not only relieving herself.

So enough about the peeing and sniffing habits of dogs. Next thing you know I'll be talking about their poop habits too. I must be a REAL dog lover.

S

Marker Dogs

In the course of my house sitting, I walk many different kinds of dogs. Boy dogs, girl dogs, big ones, small ones. It’s the boys that "mark" of course. Girls tend to just pee when they need, usually in the a.m. and nighttime. I have had one or two exceptions. Buffalo Jill, a large female Akita, would frequently sniff, scratch and pee along the arroyo path where we walked. Her housemate Buddy would then rush to discover the spot and of course lift his leg in the same place. She was obviously the leader.

An exception among the boys was Shadow. I’ve spoken of Shadow before and he is one of my favorite dogs for many reasons. Shadow is a black lab mix about 2 years old. He pees like a stallion and walks without sniffing or stopping for anything other than an occasional dump. When he pees (usually in the a.m. and at night) he stands with head and haunches stretched, nose pointing to the sky and relieves himself in copious amounts.
Among the natural markers, the boys, I’ve found variations as distinct as the dogs. This week, I’ve been with Friday, a lovely brown and white rat terrier. He is a marker dog par excellance! He stops. Sniffs positions. Resniffs, repositions, and finally (depending on how far into our walk we are) he lifts his leg as high as possible without falling over and then he drips a drop or two confident that he has left his mark for all to smell. Such bravado for such a small dog.
These marker dogs are often a frustration to me. I want to honor their natural needs of course. I also want them and myself to get exercise and with so many stops, I often feel I’ve lost the momentum needed to burn those hot chocolate calories.
The marker dogs are similar to, but separate from the "sniffer" dogs. Sniffer dogs smell and sniff each rock, bush, hydrant, and pole that the marker dogs mark. But, instead of marking, they seem to be content to imagine the previous visitor and you can almost see them imagining the dog or person, rat, bird, whatever had been in this spot before. Flora is such a sniffer dog. A female, she tends not to mark, but sniffs so many things she seems to know the story of what and who passed by just by the smell.

Would that we could do the same!

More About Mackey

I always check with dogs' owners when I write about their dog(s) in my blog. Usually, they are delighted to see my stories and appreciate the spotlight on their dear friend.

When I wrote about Dogs and Rain, Mackey's owner sent me this interesting addition about him that I thought others would enjoy. Look for Mack's photo too.

One thing about Mack’s weather behavior that has always interested us is his ability to forecast a storm long before there is any local change in the weather. It can be a perfectly clear day, with blue skies and not a breath of wind, but Mack will sniff the air and sense something that will immediately trigger his nervousness. An hour or two later the storm will hit and he’s always 100% correct with his forecast!! Is it a change in the barometric pressure or in the atmospheric electrical charge that he detects? Or is it something else entirely beyond the limits of our human senses?

If I Could Be Just One More Thing

If I could be just one more thing,
I'd like to be a dog.
With deep brown eyes and speckled paws,
with feathers in my tail.
I'd like to sniff the morning breeze and know who's passing by
I'd like to dig a hole for fun and feel the moist dark earth behind me fly
I'd like to be a dog,
and know a gentle hand upon my head
A hand that cares and keeps me close at night in bed.
I'd like to run and wag my tail to greet so many things.
And sniff another dog to see
if he is me or me is he.
I'd like to be a dog who sits outside and suns.
Who naps away the day and gobbles down my food.
I'd like that once or maybe twice,
but someday if I do,
I promise, friend,
we'll see the end
to hate and humans' cruel.



--

Dogs and Rain

It’s monsoon season in Tucson. During the monsoon’s, Tucson gets heavy rains usually late in the afternoon, high winds and a lot of thunder and lightening. Rainy season in the desert is worth the trouble it brings.
So what if power lines go down and washes run so full cars can’t cross?So what if it stays muggy and hot and wet and smelly? It’s such a blessing for the desert to get rain and so many things come out like toads and bugs and little baby birds. We actually see more green after the rains.
For dogs, the monsoon season can mean fear and trauma. Many dogs are afraid of thunder. Most dogs get a bit upset with the barometric changes.
I’m taking care of two dogs this week. Both are different. Shadow, a black lab (and I suspect pit bull) mix is not necessarily afraid of thunder. But his housemate Mackey is. Shadow simply takes it all in stride. As long as you pay attention to him, play tug from time to time and feed him on time, he seems happy.
Mackey is a wonderful bearded collie. A big dog with long hair and beady little eyes. He shakes and shivers and climbs into bed with me at night when the thunder starts.
Mackey will jump and start at the slightest noise. When the neighbor slams his car door he runs and hides. Most loud noises bother him. But get him outside after a good rain and Mackey is in his element. He plows through the puddles and gets his coat and paws and belly wet until the hair hangs in tangles from his back. He seems to love the water.
Mackey explores and sniffs as he walks. He never seems to tire of finding a new rock to smell or another path to take.
Shadow, on the other hand. takes his walks by carefully skirting puddles or walking quickly through them as though he was a prancing horse. He normally walks in a straight line, with a steady pace, face forward seemingly able to go on forever. But after a rain, he gets thrown off course by the simplest of puddles.
Funny how dogs are different.

Has it really been this long?

I am surprised to see how very long it's been since I made a post to this blog. There is a reason for this. i have not been as involved in my house sitting as I have been in the past. Oh, I'm still doing it, but it's main purpose feels as though it's been met.

I was however, reminded today of the reason I started this blog. It was because as I sat in the park, and looked at the light and felt the wonder of life, I remembered that "sitting with the dogs" began as an experience with a wonderful dog I sat with and watched the dusk settle. It seemed to me the dog was watching the light and I, well I was just enjoying the beauty of the light and then it occurred to me that was exactly what the dog was doing as well. And in that moment I felt connected to it all.

Since that time, I have sat with many of my dog wards during this magical time. They all do it the same. It is a special time for them as well as us. And so, the name for the blog and my eventual book easily became "Sitting with the Dogs" I'd love to hear your comments. Let me know your own stories with sitting with the dogs in what ever form that takes in your life.

Thanks

Sandy