Going Home and Caninesitters.

December 11th, 2007 · No Comments

There is nothing better than the feeling of going home for Christmas. I am 2 days away from a 3 week vacation over Christmas and I’m finding it very difficult to focus at work. Candy canes are all over the place, the poinsettias are sitting at front reception and there is barely any staff in sight. Yup, must me close to Christmas.

To the end, home for me is in Ontario. Born and raised in St. Catharines. The negative to owning a big black dog is that you can’t travel with them during the Christmas season due to a pet embargo that runs from December 15th to January 15th. What a pain! So the Wolf is will be joining a distant Swisskiss relative out in Tsawwasson, BC for a little vacation of his own. They are lovely people who burn aromatherapy, who are ok with sitting around in night gowns in front of strangers (when we first visited early on a Saturday), who are happy to feed him raw meaty bones and apple cider vinegar and will even allow him to sleep on their bed with them at night! I really lucked out there - I just couldn’t imagine my big hunk of love at a kennel for the entire time, cold and sacred and caged (which is totally my hang up and likely does not happen at most places). He’s just too into “people” and I suspect he would come back fully traumatized from the entire ordeal.

However, I find myself tempted to send our babysitters a little list of just a few things to watch out for. If you are a dog love who has not read the book Marley and Me by John Grogan, read it. I bring that book up because in it John leaves a letter to his babysitter that had me in histerics. The letter ran about 3 whole pages long of “just in cases and just so you knows.” Funny at the time but I now find myself wanting to do the same thing for our caninesitters…

(You have to show them the innocent face before you give them the bad news)

Do not leave your underwear on the ground, he will swallow it whole if it is a thong (men’s underwear he will just put a couple holes in and then walk away).
Hide ALL kibble in your house. He has a nose for it and gorges on it if given the chance. NOT pretty if this is the case and must watch for signs of bloat if so. (aka. no sleep)
He’s sneaky sometimes and might jump up on the counter to see what is up. He does this rarely, but usually ends disastrous results and a messy back yard.
Don’t let him invade your personal space unless you are ok with it. While watching TV he has been known to plop on human laps and throw a bit of a fit if you kick him off. Ignore the fit.
“Sit” is his way of saying “Please, May I…” Make him sit for everything (including meals)
He is smart. If you need to teach him to stay away from something, or communicate to you about wanting to go out, teach him to ring a bell - give him 2 mins of lessons and it might just save your door from scratches.
If he wants something, he tries to push you around by barking or pulling on your pajama pant leg or stealing something. Don’t let him get away with this. Ignore the behaviour the best you can until he calms.
Walks are a must (45 mins a day at least or two 30 min walks). He is a Berner, but seems to have a very high energy level than typical. Use the Sensation Harness at all times as he was bread to pull very heavy carts. A measly human is nothing to him.
Shoes - because of the layout of our place, he does not get exposed to shoes and therefore doesn’t practice proper etiquette. He may steal shoes, chew a little and move on to another shoe. He’s never destroyed a shoe but has caused small damage. Hide all shoes!
Likes to drink out of the toilet bowl. Yuck. If you want to cuddle with him at night without worrying about bacteria, leave all toilet bowl seats down. Trying to break this habit. He likes to only drink water that’s been sitting outside in the cold.

So you have to try and find that nice balance between too much information and a bit of warning. I recently caninesat a pup and was never warned that he was not toilet trained - I had assumed that he was. I was wrong. 4 pees on my rug, 1 pee on the couch, 2 pees in the hallway and 1 poo in the hallway in 48 hours. No warning or anything…harsh. If I had known this little problem existed, I might not have agreed to it to begin with. So I try to take that into consideration when I send my beast off to the Caninesitters.

I’ll try to blog as often as I can but be warned, I get sappy at this time of year…

All the best and try to stay fit!

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