Dog-Sitting

Warning: lots of cute photos in this one...

I have a confession to make (it's been a while): I grew up totally terrified of dogs.  It was only in the last few years, when my parents got a dog, that I learned how to be not terrified.  (I also read a couple of books, narrated by dogs - sounds weird I know - that helped me understand a bit more).  If I'd received the text I received late on Thursday evening 5 years ago, I would have said no.  But I didn't even give it a second thought.  The text ran along the lines of, I'm going away for a few days, the person who said they would look after the dogs has just bailed, would you help me out?  As I'm on holidays and no longer terrified of dogs, I said yes.  Except for one day, and someone else could manage that day.

Some things I learned:
Even an anxious dog, who doesn't recognise you, will recognise a dog lead.  A bit snarly and yappy turns instantly to tail-wagging.

You can't get a lead on without a collar.  (One dog could only get a whole lot of Ball Time and Out-in-the-yard Time because he'd removed his collar and hidden it well). 

I think this was my first time actually putting on a lead and walking a dog.  Thankfully, this is a really small dog.

Dogs attract.  Every walk we had, at least one person would approach - "Oh what a sweet puppy" "I have one just like him" etc.  The second day, a couple of girls (about 8 and 10) hovered a bit, so I asked if they wanted to say hello... They smothered him in kisses and told me all about their lives and their pets and then gave me a flower.

You can train a dog really quickly.  Feeding time the first day, I did what I have to do with my parents' dog: Dog is told to sit and stay; dog must stay until given the okay.  First dog took about 5 'stay's before showing that maybe he realised he shouldn't try to lick the plate while it was still in my hand.  Second day, I told him to sit, and he sat; I told him to stay, and he stayed; and when I said okay, he had his dinner. 

A well-trained dog will let you know if you're doing something wrong.

Even little dogs can run and make the person on the other end of the lead run too. 

The other part of this experience was feeding the chickens.  Once I'd found the jug for the feed (I had absolutely no idea how much grain to feed 5 chickens so was rather thankful for this guide) this was a piece of cake. 

I didn't take my camera the first day, and really regretted it - the light was still good the second day, but not quite as amazing.