Arthur the Dog

sub title

Adventures in baby(dog)sitting



First off - before I go on, I have to say Arthur is a wonderful dog. He's well behaved (mostly) and rather peaceful and excellent company for dog people. Also, as you can see by the pictures, he's a most handsome dog. And if I were a dog person, I would love Arthur for my very own. But I'm much more of a cat person than a dog person so this exercise in dog sitting is.......challenging. There are 231 reason why I will never own a dog and Arthur has reinforced a few of them.

Reason # 57
Fur or hair or whatever you call it. Again as you can see Arthur is a gorgeous dog. I could only dream my hair would be such a rich hue of colours, from golden blond to deep red to chocolate brown - beautifully and richly toned! And now I have much of that fur or hair or whatever you call it all over the house to remind me once Arthur departs. It is on my clothes. It is on my furniture. It is on my carpets. It is on my food. It is inside my dishes. It is EVERYWHERE.

Reason # 183
Having to get up and out of the house almost immediately upon waking. Yes, dogs like humans, have to have certain needs relieved as soon as they get up. Unfortunately they need their beloved owners to get up and out in order to help them. Nothing like stumbling almost blindly out that door before a morning coffee.

Reason # 64
Need. Yes dogs have needs. They need attention. They need love. They need to know they are wanted and adored. Cats, on the other hand, could care less. I admire that in an animal. I feel somewhat helpless in the overwhelming need dogs have to be loved.

Reason # 126
Guilt. This goes along with Reason # 64. I just don't love Arthur as much as he seems to love me. I feel so guilty when I look into his adoring eyes and think "I'm just not that into you." Reminds me of years and years and years ago when I broke up with a couple of boyfriends.

Reason # 215
Peeing. I don't know if female dogs (or bitches - heh heh) pee as much as male dogs, but man oh man can that dog pee!! Every shrub, tree, post - whatever - he lifts his leg and lets it go. Where does he store it all???? Now I noticed this phenomena a while ago but I went for a walk with my neighbour and Arthur the dog the other night and watched laughingly as she started counting the number of times that dog peed. I told her that's where the expression "marking his territory" came from.

Reason # 152
Grass. What is so fascinating about a single stalk of grass that he has to spend 5 minutes sniffing it. There are hundreds of billions of blades of grass, yet every so often one particular piece seems to fascinate him and I have to practically pull my arm out of it's socket getting him to move on.

Reason # 15
Whinning. While Arthur the dog is mostly well behaved, every so often he starts whinning. I think he realizes it's been a while since he saw his mom or something but he whines in this rather high-pitched way and won't stop until I pet him and pay attention to him for about 20 minutes.

Reason # 148
Noses. Dogs have very wet, very cold noses. And they love to 'nose' you in your upper arm or some other place on your body you are sure to notice.

Reason # 99
Crotch sniffing. 'nuff said.

Reason # 228
Puking. Now this one is a biggy for me!! Arthur the dog puked on my carpet. My nice, freshly, paid $60 to steam clean, off white carpet. The carpet I've always wanted but waited until the kids were grown and out (before they came back again) and no pets carpet. I was on the phone talking to his mommy when I heard him make this noise. I turned around and saw this yellowish bile vomit. I think her ears are still ringing from my cry of distress. I frantically tried to clean it, there is still a faint yellow tinge. Anyone have any ideas how to get rid of it?



Reason #1 (now this one will be graphic so you may choose not to read the number 1 reason I will never get a dog)
Dog shit!!!!!!! We don't have a fenced in yard so I have to walk Arthur the dog so he can do his thing. Now being a responsible dog sitter and very aware there are laws dealing with scooping the poop, the first time I took him for his dog shitting walk, I carried a plastic bag. Why he had to wait until the farthest part of the walk to shit I do not know. And when I picked it up it was warm eeewwww. And squishy eeewwww. So I had to carry smelly dog shit for most of the walk. And then!!! didn't Arthur the dog shit AGAIN!!!! I only had one bag with me. I didn't know he would shit twice!! So I bent to pick it up and the first shit fell out. So I had to pick up the first shit. And then, while trying to shovel all the shit into the bag, my finger slipped and smushed into the squished dog shit. EEEEEEWWWWW EEEEEEWWWWWW EEEEEWWWW. I practically ran home after that, dangling bag of dog shit bouncing along. I washed my hands with soap, then washed them again, then washed them again.
I was telling another neighbour this yesterday and after she stopped laughing, she gave me a pair of latex gloves for the next time. And what do you do with it once you get home? Thankfully it was garbage day the first day so I just put the bad of squished smelly dog shit right into the garbage, but what do I do with this mornings offering?? I would dump it into the toilet but I still don't have the hang of picking up dog shit and it's all sqished into the bag. (Thank the stars above for those latex gloves!!! When I got home, I washed them and washed them and washed them - they are mostly clean now but as soon as Arthur the dog goes home - they are toast) I'm NOT bringing that bag of squished smelly dog shit into the house! So I put it into the other bag I carried - learned that lesson fast I tell you - carry 2 plastic bags! and left it by the corner of the house. Once Arthur the dog goes home and before I dispose of the latex gloves, I'll use them one last time to gather all the bags of squished smelly dog shit and put them into one big bag and put it in the garbage bin.

'til later

ETA

Zina, the Princess Warrior Cat is still MIA. I did find her briefly yesterday in one of the bedrooms but as I was trying to comfort her, Arthur the dog came trotting down the hall and I think she has found a new hiding spot. I moved her food there and it was all gone this morning so she is peeping out once in a while. Some warrior. I tried explaining to her that Arthur the dog is a nice dog, he has a cat of his own, and he just wants to play with her, but she didn't seem to buy it.