Glacier
07-22-2008, 07:01 PM
Stuart and I haven't had a night out of the house together in four years. More than one night was over 9 years ago...our honeymoon! When one of us goes away for some reason, the other stays home to dogsit.
The cats are easy. We wouldn't have any trouble finding someone to take care of them. The dogs are a whole different ball game! We have a couple people who would do the basics in an emergency, but no one who would stay at our house and take care of them so we could get away. If we chained it wouldn't be a problem. Lots of people around here will feed/water/scoop for a dog team(for a few bucks a day per visit/per dog). But my dogs aren't chained and they need someone at home at night--Anvik has to be inside or the jerk neighbor complains about the death howl; Hobo is afraid of the dark; 14 year old dogs should not sleep outside in my mind even if it is July! There's meds to dispense twice a day; who gets along with who; who eats what and where; ack....it's all very complicated! Probably more complicated than it needs to be, but that's the way it is! It's an awful lot to ask someone else to take on!
Next May is our 10th wedding anniversary. We eloped and when we got married we said we'd go back there for our tenth. We got married in Waterton National Park. Life was simplier back then. We had one dog and one cat! ROFL!!! Finding a sitter was easy; boarding was cheap! We lived in the city with central heat and air ect. We could lock up the house, drop the critters at a kennel and walk away for a week! No worries about the woodstove going out or the well dying!
Last week, Stuart asked if I would trust anyone to take care of the dogs while we went away. My first response was yup, Stephanie. She used to be a handler for the musher who gave me Pingo and Sundin; she worked as a vet tech before going back to nursing school; she's one of my best friends. Unfortunately, Stephanie lives in Ontario now. I emailed her anyway and asked if she would be interested. We'll pay for her flights, fill the fridge with cider and she can use our truck, ect.
I just got an email from her that she would be THRILLED to dogsit! She actually said she was "honored" that we would ask her. Holy Huskies, we might actually get a holiday. Who cares that it's still 10 months away!! It's a holiday and now I have lots of time to plan! Who knows when we'll get another one so this one has to be good!!!
And then, just to make my day even better, I got two dozen roses delivered to my office from my hubby.. half red ones, half peach. For no reason, not my bday, anniversary. He's not even home for another two weeks. I don't even know how he got an order in. He works nights, sleeps most of the day and the phone system up there is awful!
The cats are easy. We wouldn't have any trouble finding someone to take care of them. The dogs are a whole different ball game! We have a couple people who would do the basics in an emergency, but no one who would stay at our house and take care of them so we could get away. If we chained it wouldn't be a problem. Lots of people around here will feed/water/scoop for a dog team(for a few bucks a day per visit/per dog). But my dogs aren't chained and they need someone at home at night--Anvik has to be inside or the jerk neighbor complains about the death howl; Hobo is afraid of the dark; 14 year old dogs should not sleep outside in my mind even if it is July! There's meds to dispense twice a day; who gets along with who; who eats what and where; ack....it's all very complicated! Probably more complicated than it needs to be, but that's the way it is! It's an awful lot to ask someone else to take on!
Next May is our 10th wedding anniversary. We eloped and when we got married we said we'd go back there for our tenth. We got married in Waterton National Park. Life was simplier back then. We had one dog and one cat! ROFL!!! Finding a sitter was easy; boarding was cheap! We lived in the city with central heat and air ect. We could lock up the house, drop the critters at a kennel and walk away for a week! No worries about the woodstove going out or the well dying!
Last week, Stuart asked if I would trust anyone to take care of the dogs while we went away. My first response was yup, Stephanie. She used to be a handler for the musher who gave me Pingo and Sundin; she worked as a vet tech before going back to nursing school; she's one of my best friends. Unfortunately, Stephanie lives in Ontario now. I emailed her anyway and asked if she would be interested. We'll pay for her flights, fill the fridge with cider and she can use our truck, ect.
I just got an email from her that she would be THRILLED to dogsit! She actually said she was "honored" that we would ask her. Holy Huskies, we might actually get a holiday. Who cares that it's still 10 months away!! It's a holiday and now I have lots of time to plan! Who knows when we'll get another one so this one has to be good!!!
And then, just to make my day even better, I got two dozen roses delivered to my office from my hubby.. half red ones, half peach. For no reason, not my bday, anniversary. He's not even home for another two weeks. I don't even know how he got an order in. He works nights, sleeps most of the day and the phone system up there is awful!