Dog sitting: an average night of puppy love

[chris-md]

I have mentioned a few times on here that for the last couple years (2 years on the nose actually), my partner and I have been dogsitting on Rover, the popular petsitting/dog walking app here in the US. This helps pay for the MASSIVE bill we’ve racked up and continue to rack up renovating this fixer upper of a dream home we bought 2 years ago.

Took this photo tonight and realized it is so emblematic of my life right now. This is my almost-every night. Lap full of dogs and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Dogs represented, fore to aft:
Miki
Cavalier King Charles spaniel
3 legged yorkie

 

[Terry57]

Chris, I can't think of a better way to earn some extra reno funds! Those pups are precious, I love being surrounded by my dogs at the end of a long day. I don't think i could get to sleep without them. Do the dogs you sit for stay for short periods of time or longer stretches?
I'm looking forward to seeing the pool when you finish it.

 

[SailBoat]

If you're going to do fur, do it with a ball of three little ones! What a way of off-setting costs and emotions.
Enjoy!

 

[Scott]

What a novel idea, Chris! Having a variety of guest dogs and earning is a dream come true!

 

[Laurasea]

Wow I would do this!!! But I have four if my own lol I couldn't handle more, this lap is full! But oh the warmth , the cuteness!

 

[Allee]

Perfect place to dream in comfort. Love the photo, Chris. I can't think of a better way to bring in extra dollars for projects. What a wonderful bonus to have those adorable furry visitors to snuggle with.

We need photos of some of your walks too, I try to take a dog or several for a walk as often as possible, no better way to improve my life outlook and brighten the day.

 

[clark_conure]

meh, unless it was my/our dog my ex gf took from me; a perfect female golden retriever... that would ride in the truck and go to the creak with me and swim out to catch her dog toy and everything never bark, never needed a leash, was afraid of my last cockatiel I owned...


I'm totally not bitter even though it was before I was even married to my now ex-wife, we are talking like 18 years ago....so I'm totally F*ing over it!!!!!!!!!EVERYONE GOT THAT! I AM NOT AND NEVER HAVE BEEN DEFENSIVE EVER!!!!!!

so um anyways.....like post more birds please sir.

 

[chris-md]

Chris, I can't think of a better way to earn some extra reno funds! Those pups are precious, I love being surrounded by my dogs at the end of a long day. I don't think i could get to sleep without them. Do the dogs you sit for stay for short periods of time or longer stretches?
I'm looking forward to seeing the pool when you finish it.

Here you go! Painted concrete was replaced with a pebble finish containing glass pebbles to help up the pretty factor. Also replaced the coping (stones surrounding the perimeter of the pool) and water line tile. The color in the after photo looks fuller, but that’s the lighting (cloudy day). Low light days make pool colors look dull. A video shows how the bottom looks like it son fire due in part tot he glass pebbles

[ame="https://youtu.be/qbXDThrwrY0"]Shiney pebble pool - YouTube[/ame]

Doggies stay various lengths of time. The miki is here for 6 weeks, longest stay we’ve ever had (owners taking extended Bali vacation befor starting their own business).

The yorkie and cavalier are brothers and we’re onyl here for 36 hours. But are out best clients and are here very frequently.

 

[chris-md]

It really is a wonderful way to earn some extra cash. Just enough to cover the interest of the interest only HELOC we use to pay for everything.

Now to find out how to Get enough money to actually pay it down!

 

[Terry57]

Chris, it looks fantastic! I love the waterline tiles and coping, and the glass pebbles look amazing! I have been doing a little research into pools, and the different finishes and was wondering if the pebble finish is smooth on your feet?

Having y'all to watch those doggies must be such a relief to their owners. They get to know you and they get a vacation too!

 

[chris-md]

For me the pebble finish feels like I’m walking on concrete. Generally it feels ok, sometimes even nice, like a small massage. But you can’t use too much pressure. For example, pushing off the bottom at an angle - like launching Yourself into a swim from deeper water - or anything where you use one foot like stepping on the edge of a step, can chew on the skin of the foot and leave blisters if done repetitively. In retrospect, I’d opt for the polished finish (a step up from pebble where they do a stone aggregate and polish it down to a smooth finish. More durable than plaster).

 

[Terry57]

Thank you for that explanation, so many opposite reviews, but no one explained it quite so clearly.

 

[chris-md]

Of course! Everyone’s experience is different I’m sure. If you have tougher, calluses feet it’s probably easier than for those with thinner skin on the feet.

Based on my own experience, if you have any doubts whatsoever about the comfort, go with something smoother. Either plaster or polished aggregate.

 

[RavensGryf]

Wow Chris, I never knew you did this!

You have a size limit I imagine? How big of a dog do you take? What if you get one where someone says is well behaved, house trained, gets along with other dogs etc and they don’t? . I’d personally be afraid of the liability of being responsible for other people’s beloved animals. I’m curious how all that is handled.

It’s great that it’s been working well for you and your partner, and has provided some extra $$ for your renovations! The pool looks great!

 

[chris-md]

Hey April! You’ve asked for an essay...

We do have a size limit: under 40 lbs. but the truth is it’s feast or famine. Lots of dogs under 15, and the occasional 30+lbs. very little in the 15-30 lbs range. Poodles and yorkie mixes are common stays. Sasha (our 11 yr old teacup yorkie) just isn’t a fan of other dogs; I haven’t figured out why but she often inspires bullying against her. She’s often picked on. Smaller dogs, we can easily control. Bigger dogs, one wrong step and she could easily be killed.

And it’s an issue with Parker. A big dog jumping on Parker’s cage is much more terrifying than a little cavalier King Charles spaniel. We occasionally thought about opening up to larger dogs - a sweet golden retriever would be very welcome here. But our small dog business is busy enough that we don’t really want any more incremental business, period. We’re actually hoping it slows down this year. We hit CAPACITY for what we’re willing to do.

And of course in the meantime I’m looking at getting a part time weekend job as a kennel attendant to really help put a dent in the debt. So busy in one area, so take up more work somewhere else too.

Lord, well behaved, potty trained dogs...I’ve got a few stories. But it comes down to this: you adapt. That simple. We only take two clients at a time to keep it easy on us. We have the ability to separate the house into two living parts, upstairs and down stairs. If we have a dog who isn’t getting along with Sasha or other dogs, eddie and I divide and conquer. One will stay downstairs with one dog, the other will stay upstairs with the others.

Dogs will often sleep in the bed with us, so if we have dogs who don’t get along, or too many dogs (we get a lot of duos, like the cavalier and three legged yorkie above, and part of those two clients at a time is occasionally two pairs of dogs at a time), we will sleep in separate beds to make sure they all get bed time.

And yes, I’ve had a puppy reduce me to tears. Only once, but he was freaking insane and it was having behvaioral effects on Sasha, making things a lot worse.

If a dog isn’t as potty trained as advertised (only really happened once, and we should have known better because it was a 13 week puppy), we just revert to puppy potty training techniques: out every couple hours, after a nap, after dinner, etc.

Responsibility for others dogs is tough. I’ve got a few terrifying stories about dogs slipping collars and harnesses (I’m no longer a fan of any restraint device. You name it, we’ve had a dog escape it). Miraculously all these stories end ok, but it’s absolutely forefront of our minds that it may only be a matter of time before we lose one despite our best efforts. A friend lost their dog when a rover sitter lost the dog while on a walk. It’s just a risk you take.

But for all the risks, there are absolutely rewards. We kept the miki shown earlier in this thread, and he was sweet but had NO obedience training. I was able to teach him sit, and you could see a lightbulb go off. He LOVED our training sessions, and it supposedly changed how his parents interacted with him. They initially though he was “too smart” to learn sit...their words: “you tell him to sit and he sits there thinking ‘screw you’”. It was a beautiful thing to see and be a part of.

 

[chris-md]

One thing I will say: this has made me question ever owning a puppy again. It’s rough enough taking care of a 6 month old puppy for a week. The thought of it for a year or more...it’s enough to make me curl up in a corner praying to the spaghetti monster for salvation.

 

[RavensGryf]

One thing I will say: this has made me question ever owning a puppy again. It’s rough enough taking care of a 6 month old puppy for a week. The thought of it for a year or more...it’s enough to make me curl up in a corner praying to the spaghetti monster for salvation.

Thanks for the explanation Chris . I’ll forgive you for calling me April instead of Julie this time... lol I know you know my name but it’s been a good while since I’ve been here regularly!

I hear you about having a puppy. Mine is 13 months old now finally. I got him at 4 months, and we lucked out since much handling, training, and socialization had already been done by his breeder during his most formative months fortunately. Although we’ve put a lot of training hours in, at least we have a mentally healthy fur child. We’re entertaining the thought of another dog when he’s maybe at least 2, but I hesitate raising a young puppy. As much as I’d love to rescue, I also hesitate there, because of the birds. Although the birds are separated, at least we were able to train our boy from an early enough age not to go into hunting mode with them.

Also can’t risk getting new furniture with a puppy around. Our dog has always had a ton of toys, but now our couch and chair cushions are gone. Also have much less pairs of shoes now. Even though we were careful, it still happened!

 

[chris-md]

Julie, sorry! I swear, when I was reading I was sure I saw Kiwibird as the author. My apologies!

It’s a conundrum for sure! Getting a baby is definitely your best course, but do you actually wanna go down that road. Totally get it! Here’s the thing: the answer usually comes down to yes, well do it. Do I actually see myself living rest of my life without a dog? Absolutely not. So I’ll likely suffer. Especially if I ultimately get the cavalier I’ve been dreaming of