Doggie Details- Top Ten

This  past week I had the opportunity to dog sit for a couple little pups in St. Paul. Part of the arrangement was that I got to stay in their home- eat their food, drink their beverages as payment. 

Here are a few reflections from my time:

10. Dogs and kids are similar but both have a major drawback. The positive for kids is-  they can communicate with you better what they want.  The positive for dogs is- they can be left at home for 8-9 hours so you can move about freely unhindered.

9.  Dogs who are poorly potty trained are quite unpleasant to come home to because you will be hyper-vigilant to locate the warm pile of poo steaming in some hidden corner. The trick being that you must wait for it to cool before collecting and disposing of it.

8.  We are living in wonderful technologically advanced times. The pinnacle of all inventions being, of course, the sleep number bed. I'm a 30-35, by the way.

7.   House sitting is like trying on someone else's life for a while. Why yes, I will eat organically and have microwave meals that you can also heat in the oven that come in compostable containers. It allows you to try out new routines because you're in a new place- like drinking my morning java by a gas burning fireplace, instead of chugging it out of a travel mug on my commute.

6.  Enjoyed their outdoor hot tub with my landlady and I got to think things like, "Is 103 degrees hot enough? That's the highest it goes."

5.  I'm not really a bath-taking person. Probably due to the fact that I've been living in rental units for the past 10 years, and it's just creepy. However, something about Kohler appliances sparkling and shining; and though I was in a near strangers home- I took a bath in their 6 foot long tub...twice.

4.  Lint rollers are the best friend to clean obsessed people. I used 4 sheets just about everyday on my clothes... Including my pajama pants- so I didn't get dog hair in the bed.

3.  You never get use to picking up dog doo-doo around the house. Though I did start to ignore it in some places because I knew the second I picked it up, one of them would re-mark their spot. My plan back fired, however, when they just found new places to mark. My theory is that they had to hesitate a little more before finally popping a squat because they had to find a new spot.

2.  I have never been so thankful for wood floors. (Referring, of course, to Top Ten #3)

1.  At the first circling and slight squatting of a dog, the visual picture of me shooting up out of bed from a dead sleep- or up from the couch to grab the pint size dog and rush him/her with my arms outstretched about 1 foot away from my body outside to do their business. The words being uttered under my breath expressing my annoyance with the little pooping machine. 

There you have it.

That is my tale,

melody