ballwalkpark thanksgiving

I am thankful for ballwalkpark, in every way. I am thankful for my amazing clients who care for their dogs with such devotion and love. From training classes to feeding the best food to buying them the newest toys at the pet store to attending to every medical issue, my clients clearly love their dogs. Not only does it make my job easier because my pups are so well trained and loved, it's so nice to share the love I have for these pups with my clients and know that they enjoy seeing pictures, reading blogs, and hearing updates about their dogs. My clients encourage me to be a better dog-mom to my own pups.

I am thankful for Nancy and all of the hard work she has put in with puppies and walks over the past year, and the recent addition of Kendal who has been a lifesaver since "The Boot". They truly share the love that I have for my clients and they take pride in their work and in ballwalkpark. They go above and beyond on a daily basis, and I don't even have to ask for them to do so. They are 100 times more than I ever thought an employee could be.

I am thankful for my ballwalkpark pups. I love each and every one of them for all of their different personalities, quirks, habits and never failing to make me smile. It is like having every kind of dog you could ever want, all at once! I have dogs that retrieve, wrestle, cuddle, etc... Every park trip I take is fun to plan the combination of personalities and which toys which dog will want and who will want to play with who. I may be biased, but I think I have the best pack in the park.

I am thankful to wake up every day and look forward to picking up my dogs and spend my days doing what I love. I am thankful for my little ballwalkpark family and the immense amount of support it has received.

Adventures of bwp: thanksgiving week

Yesterday was the downpour of all downpours! My rainproof gear passed the test, the boot failed miserably. I don't think have never been that wet in my life. I would try to wipe the water off of my face and by the time I did it was dripping wet again! The dogs stayed clean despite running in lakes of mud because it was raining so hard it was like a non-stop shower. That was a perk! The morning trip was raining, but nothing compared to the afternoon. We brought Floyd for his second park trip, his first with my pack (was with nancy yesterday). That dog has so much energy! He's a young labradoodle,so I'm not surprised. He was just adopted into a new home two weeks ago and was named Floyd- it fits him very well! He seems to be a very smart, well trained dog, but still is adjusting to a lot and very very excited about the dog park! The main thing we are working on is recall and considering he is still learning his new name, and has a pack of new friends, it's understandable that he's not totally reliable yet. We kind of had a break through yesterday and discovered that he may have been trained "touch" instead of "come" as ER have been using. He heard me say " touch" to another dog and came running over and sat perfectly at my feet waiting for a treat. And did it again, and again... I love moments like that :)

During our drop offs and pick ups, or "lunch", we found a lost dog walking in front of my house. He was a little chug (chihuahua/pug) and his name was Larry. We called the number on his tag and left a voicemail. I posted on Facebook and twitter. We kept him with us waiting to hear back from the owner. Long story short, he snuck out of my neighbors yard who was dog-sitting and after some cuddling in the car with me, he went home safe sound. He was a sweet little guy with a Mr. Fletcher-ish underbite.

So, I'm having kind of an off week, and am apparently physically falling apart. I was lifting a dog in the truck on Monday (which I do 15x a day, every day, and have never had a problem), and pulled something in my back. I've never done that before and feel like I'm turning into an 80yr old! I learned my lesson on lifting. I have been so lucky to have Kendal helping me- I thought the boot was difficult, but this is much worse. I think, in the world of "everything happens for a reason", it's helped me let go of a little bit of my control freak ways and let Kendal take the reins. She has been amazing and it is really good for me to stand back and watch a bit... I can't believe how much she has caught on to the crazy chaotic life of the dogs. All the dogs love her and listen to her and she has been such a trooper with the long days bad weather. That's how you know someone truly loves the dogs!

Yesterday afternoon, I had to take a break and sit down and rest for a minute. I had been chasing the dogs around trying to get their toys to throw and finally gave up. As soon as I sat down, every single dog came over and said hi and checked in on me. They are so sweet. Milkshake brought his ball, dropped it, and barked in circles around the bench, in protest of my resting moment. If a barking dog dancing in circles doesn't get you back in action, I don't know what does. He's intense!

The rain either energizes and excites the dogs and they just go crazy, or sometimes they have just had enough. Pepper was over it. Her sad little eyes said "I'm not cut out for this. Take me home to cuddle!" I posted a video on YouTube and facebook of the pups romping in the rain.

In other news, Cooper took the worst smelling poop I have ever smelled. Even after it was bagged and thrown away, I could smell if for a good 50ft radius. What did he eat?!

Nancy walked Mokee yesterday afternoon, in the downpour, and apparently did the best towel off job ever! His mom texted me last night asking if he went to the park (he does both on Tuesdays) - she said he looked like he just got back from the groomers he was so clean! Good job, Nance!

Ok, back to the park to test that rain gear again....

Week 1: Dogwalker in a boot

Whew... what a week it has been! True November weather with cold, wind and rain. Everyone is starting to make plans for the holiday next week. And your dogwalker got put in a walking boot. Why the boot? I hurt my ankle over the summer and it just didn't seem to get better. I went to the Dr, got an X-ray, and turns out I have an extra bone in my ankle and a tendon got stretched/torn over it and just couldn't heal because I walk so much. So as an alternative to not walking for weeks on end, I am in a boot to hopefully give me extra ankle bone and tendon the rest it needs! So, dogwalker + boot = thank god for Kendal and Nancy's help.

Kendal is my psuedo-little sister, Nancy's daughter, and my best friend Hilary's little sister. She has been a part of my dog park trips and dogsitting on the side for years now - she watches my dogs while I am out of town. Luckily, she will be helping me at the park so I don't have to run around as much and give my foot a little more rest.

The first day with The Boot, on Tuesday, was not easy. I did two runs by myself. I have never actually realized how much walking I do in a day until I strapped a huge boot to myself. Luckily it wasn't raining so it stayed pretty dry. I did however step in dog poop, and that was a pleasure to clean up.

Wednesday was the first day of Kendal riding along with me and picking up dogs. A huge help! Nancy was taking care of her crew - she met us at the park with Pepper, Mokee and Woody. Her little pack has developed it's own dynamic and it's so fun to see how differently the dogs are in a smaller pack. Pepper, who when she is with my pack, loves to chase Bonita and Chesa and grab their tails and then eventually possibly hump them, is a totally different dog in Nancy's group. Although she has her golden retriever opportunity with Mokee, she and Woody are best buds. Woody is Nancy's Jack Russell, and he is a fraction of Pepper's size, but those two just love to run and chase. Pepper is also highly addicted to Nancy and when not in chase-mode can almost always be found as Nancy's shadow. Mokee has taken to his new position of ring leader of the crew. He marches proud with his head held high and greets my pack with tons of excitement!

There was no preventing the inevitable mud bath that was Magnuson park yesterday, so we just made the best of it and Kendal got lots of practice hosing the crew off before we left :) Michael, my boyfriend, was kind enough to thoroughly wrap my boot in industrial size Saran Wrap - he found it more amusing than I did and I think I was wrapped at least 50 times.  My toes broke through and were soaked in dog park mud within minutes. Coco was relieved to see that the rain had finally accumulated to make enough of a puddle for her to roll in. Bickie, I swear, I was right there when she dropped in that puddle and started to roll - I was yelling "No Coco!" and she looked at me for a brief second and considered it, but instincts won her over. Luckily the mud hasn't thick and gross yet :/ Bonita and Rex took turns being ball thieves. Otis got to make a guest appearance since his mid-week dogwalker was out sick. It's always fun to have goofy Mr. Otis around. Dexter learned that Kendal is his new best friend - she hasn't learned that at a certain point, sitting perfectly still and smiling with that toothy grin doesn't always warrant a treat. He's having Thanksgiving feast early. All in all, it was a great day and Kendal was a champ hosing off all 8 dogs. My muddy, soggy foot went home to dry off. After two days of wearing that boot, the padding part on the bottom had already torn up and a chunk in the front had scraped off. Something tells me that boot was not made for dog parkin it... Miles' mom sent me a link for a waterproof boot cover - I definitely need to invest. On my to-do list for tomorrow.

Today was another double dog park trip day. Luckily I had Kendal's help, not only with the dogs, but with properly duct taping my boot. Much more effective. I brought my good camera and was able to take some fun pictures while Kendal learned to manage the group. They all respond to her really well - it's great! Nancy came with Pepper and Woody. I was trying to get some good pictures of Pepper to help out with her feature of her holiday card - the theme is "holly jolly" so I was trying to get something goofy! I don't know if I got "the picture" for Pepper, but I certainly got a lot of other goofy pics... between Hastings, the extra gooberish looking Great Dane with know from the park to Harley, an English Bulldog we ran into with a huge underbite. Chesa and Bailey were trading off their yellow lab fixation between the Jolly Ball and the tennis ball. Chesa loves to push the Jolly ball around on the ground and has scratched a little spot on her forehead from it! She is not bothered in the least... Coco found yet another puddle... Gracie hopped from dog to dog with her puppy energy, checking in frequently for a treat. Rex loves to go after the big dogs - the bigger the better for him to wrestle with, and Hastings was just his type. He got quite a good romp in. Poor Miles... we weren't quite expecting the drop in temperature and we didn't see his coat by the door. He got cold so I tried to cuddle with him and keep him warm - he clobbered me with kisses - typical Miles. We will definitely have the coat tomorrow! I offered my jacket to "cozy cave" under, but apparently he only likes to do that with Michael, not me. Kendal's dog, Maddie came along too. She is obsessed with Kendal and the herding instincts in her say that she needs to protect Kendal at all times. I think today was really good for her because she kind of started to branch out and play with other dogs. She rode in the truck on the way home and did just great! A new ballwalkpark addition within the family.

Confessions of a dogwalker: So something strange and gross happened to me today. I've had a lot of gross things happen at the park, or due to the park, but this was a first. In between trips, I was adjusting my many layers, and realized there was a small bit of dog poop in between my pants and my tank top that went over it. I have NO idea how that happened, it's never happened before, but in the world of a dogwalker, it's unfortunately not out of the question....

So, moving on.... For the afternoon trip, we went to pick up Sammy, my doberman. He and I have been working together for about 4 months. While he has possibly been one of my most difficult clients, he may also be the most rewarding because he has come such a long way. In the beginning he wouldn't let me touch him, wouldn't get in the truck, wouldn't come, drop it, wanted nothing to do with me. All those problems are solved now and he is my buddy. I was so happy to see that he is already adjusting to Kendal much quicker. He is, however, terrified of the rain, and I was worried about that today. You'd never imagine such a big tough dog to be such a scardy cat! When the rain started at the park today he hid under a tree!

One of our next stops was to pick up Milkshake. He is staying with me for the next couple days while his parents are out of town, so he had lots of food, toys and a bed to bring along. I got some great pictures of Shakes today - if I call him "Mr. Milkey-Shakey" in a really high pitched (annoying) voice he starts jumping like a jumping bean - its adorable.

Luckily, while Kendal was running in to grab us some lunch, I was scrolling through facebook and saw a friend post a link about the Occupy Seattle Protests planned to close the University and possibly Montlake bridge as well. I am so glad that I saw that post and was able to plan accordingly. Unfortunately for Walker, I had to call his mom and reschedule him for tomorrow - he was my only guy going back to Eastlake and I was worried I would get caught in hours of traffic trying to get him home. Sounds like it was a good call, and I am so grateful that Michelle was OK with the change! We will make up for it with an extra wonderful park trip tomorrow. Just another obstacle in the day of the life of a dogwalker!

We had the park nearly to ourselves, especially after the rain started. Sammy, Cooper, Tucker and Milkshake stuck together and chased/snuck the ball away from one another. Violet pranced around with the ball she happened to find that hardly fit in her mouth. Dexter stuck by Kendal's side, peppered in with some full out sprints with the other pups. The rain really started right as we were leaving the park. That was cold rain!! It felt good to get back in the warm cozy car and finally dry off. Cooper and Violet were sitting in the back seat, cuddled and so adorable... I took a great picture but for some reason those last pics won't upload to my computer! Ugh... project for another day. Time to wrap this day up! Snow tomorrow....?!

Thanks to Nancy and Kendal for all of your help this week! A gimp dogwalker definitely needs some help...

*Vet's news -- Stella (King Charles) doesn't have Addison's disease! Yay! Huge relief for the sweet little girl and her mama.

**Client quote of the week: "Seriously, you have full permission to smack the neurotic pet owner in me the next time we see you!" ... obviously I never would, or even think of it, but it definitely made me laugh!

Check out pictures from today at: https://picasaweb.google.com/ballwalkpark/GoodCameraStormyDayInNovember

Adventures of BWP: Monday 11/14

I hate to disappoint, but this post comes in place of pictures today. I know it's not a fair trade, but it's the best I could do. I unfortunately chose to go to the park during the wettest, windiest part of the day and the it was not ideal conditions for the iphone. Today reminded me of the equivalent of college kids playing flag (or tackle!) football in a mud pit. They dogs did not mind the rain one bit, they were running wild with their usual "Monday crazies" and tumbling in the mud with no hesitation. The "Monday crazies" are a common term in the dogwalker world - as the weather turns to the cold, wet, dark days people tend to spend more time inside, which means their dogs do as well. By the time Monday comes around and they go back to the park with all of their friends, they have lots of bottle up energy to run off. Today, the dogs were half running after the ball or frisbee I was throwing, and half just running to chase one another and tumble into the mud. Cooper (black lab Cooper - there are 3 to be confused), was loving life today. He is an English lab and very hefty, yet short and stout guy. He is absolutely adorable - he looks like a giant teddy bear, or a linebacker. He loves to go after one of the running dogs and when he finally catches up, he essentially body checks them. The dogs love it! Rex and Bonita just keep going back for more.

On days like this, there is no avoiding bath time. Winter bath time at the park is pretty difficult - there are normally three hoses to use, and during the summer they aren't nearly in as high of demand as muddy days like today. During the colder months, the park department turns off all but one hose. This means that during the months where dog walkers have possibly up to 6 dogs to hose off, we all have to wait our turn, and make sure any park patrons get a chance to use the hose without having to wait for us. I'm sure you can imagine the lineup.... without waiting for anyone else, it typically takes me about 30 minutes to hose my golden retrievers. For those of you that have heard me talk about the Magnuson Dog Walkers Association (yes, dog walkers unite!) - this is the type of thing we would talk about and try to change. On a positive note, I am so proud of how well behaved my pups are about getting the hose down. Some of them are so tolerant that I can just set the leash down on the ground and they don't even try to fight it. Good dogs!

I found a new favorite product today - FURdry by Furminator.  It is essentially a towel that you can wrap around your dog like a shirt so that when they come home wet, they don't get your couch or carpet or anything else wet. I towel dry my heart out of these dogs, but it's hard to get those long haired dogs perfectly dry. I highly suggest these wraps to help keep your pup dry and your house clean! Let me know what you think!

In health news.... Miss Stella (King Charles) had to go back to the vet today to get some testing done - something having to do with her food absorption. Results will come in tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!!! Miss Bonita ate a bug again this weekend and her poor little face got all swollen and she had to go to the vet and get an IV and is on steroids. This is the second time it has happened in a couple of months. They don't know if it is a bug or a spider, but it's not good!

I don't have anything for client quote of the day! Send me something to make me laugh!

Hope you all had a good Monday!

An old(er) dog learns a new trick

My little girl Bailey and I have been through our fair share of struggles and triumphs as a team together. Her puppyhood was so memorable just about everyone I know called me when "Marley and Me" came out and I got about 9 copies of the book in the first year. She dominated so much of my life that I decided to forgo a college degree and years of hard work in the corporate world to devote my life to her world. The one thing about her that I always wish I could change, and no matter how much we tried to work on it never would, just finally happened one day. Bailey, like myself, is a pretty anxious and high-strung creature by nature. She's a homebody and whenever she's not at home she is so excited about the possibilities of who she may meet or where a tennis ball may appear she just can't settle down. This has proved to be a huge problem in trying to tie her outside when going to a grocery store, coffee shop, even sitting on a patio having lunch right next to her. I know it typically isn't a great idea to leave your dog tied up outside, but really, when are there not at least a couple dogs tied up outside Bartells or Met Market on Queen Anne? So anyways, Bailey has made it very clear that this was not to be a part of our routine since day 1. The second I tie up her leash, she starts wiggling and panting and dancing, and before I can even turn in the other direction she is barking at the top of her deep chested lab lungs "DON'T! GO! DON'T! LEAVE! ME! MOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!". This isn't your average dog bark, this is the kind of bark you can hear loud and clear all the way in the back corner of Met Market. The kind of bark where you hear someone at the next check out register say, "Geez, whose dog is that", like she is being brutally abused on the sidewalk of Queen Anne Ave with the floral dept girls. The kind of bark, that when I sheepishly admit she is my bundle of love, almost every time the response I hear is, "wow, she's intense".

This tiny little flaw of hers has really driven me crazy because for the lifestyle that I have, and we have had together, because it makes it so hard to be able to take her everywhere with me like I want to! So often I think of walking to do some errands on QA Ave and want to take Bailey because it would be a good walk and I know she would love it, but ooooh... I have to stop in Bartells and she can't go in there.... it puts a ka-bosh on the whole trip for Bailey and she has to stay home. Sometimes when the weather is nice Michael and I like to take a huge "urban hike" and walk to Ballard and get lunch - obviously this is a trek Bailey would immensely enjoy (not so much Bam, too much work for her little legs and she is lazy, she prefers to sit that one out) but I have to either commit to taking her on the walk and not have lunch or go purely to have lunch and not take her, which takes most of the fun out of the walk for me. I have never had a gym membership since I've had Bailey because I feel that whenever I am getting exercise she should too.

So what's the reason for all the rambling? A couple months ago Bailey changed her ways. I met a friend at Paragon to meet about some stuff and I decided to chance it with Miss Bailey. I put her outside and snuck up on her in the window every ten minutes, where she couldn't see me, and to my surprise, not only was she not barking, she was actually sleeping! This is unheard of. She was always in a panicky panting fit when I left her, barking or not. I was so proud of my sleeping beauty. After this success I just started taking her more often - now if I have to run to the grocery store, I just bring her. I can bring her anywhere and she hasn't started barking once. It is SOOooo wonderful. For whatever reason, those few minutes at night when we walk to the store make me so happy. Tonight I walked out of Bartells and she was laying down on the sidewalk with one paw crossed over the other, head resting on paws. My heart melted.

I didn't train her to make this change in behavior, I have no idea why it happened. Maybe she just got comfortable with good old Queen Anne Ave and decided it was an OK place to be. All I know is that just as soon as I thought I couldn't love my intense, spastic, ball-obsessed dog any more, I do. Everyone told me that labs hit their "golden years" around 7 (which she will be next month) and this one little change in behavior makes me believe that is true.

Now... if you are walking down Queen Anne Ave tomorrow and see a yellow lab barking her head off.... just know I'll be somewhere kicking myself for jinxing it.

Adventures of BWP: Tuesday 11/8

It was such a beautiful day at the park. I would trade summer for an entire year of days like today. I know the exact moment when a puppy turns into a teenage - it's almost always the same. It happened to Rex today. As we walk from the water station to the gate to leave the park, all the dogs follow me in a nice little pack and we go through the gate and they jump in the truck. It's that moment when the "teenager" stops a few paces short of the gate and stares at me that I realize he's grown up. He realizes that he actually has a choice whether he follows me or not. It's when he actually considers the fact that there might be better things in the world than the scraps of treat left in my coat pocket. If he bolts, he just might be able to steal a few more minutes of precious play time. The older dogs, that have gone through the teenage days, know the golden rule: I always win :) Well Rex, let the games begin. Sweet little Gracie still thinks the most exciting thing in the world is about to happen when I call her - why do puppies have to grow up?

Tucker has been adjusting since his partner in crime, Stella, moved to Boston last week. The first couple trips were rough - he was clearly confused and didn't really know who to hang out with so he got kind of bully-ish. It's kind of like the kid in high school that got separated from his friends so tries to act super tough and mean so other kids don't think he's a loser. To help him adjust, I switched him to the afternoon group 2 days/wk, so he has a whole new crew to bond with, not just life without Stella. I know this may sound ridiculous, but those two were close. As soon as Stella's parents started packing up their place, two weeks before the move, Tucker started acting out. Stella didn't act funny until her last park trip when her house was literally empty of all belongings.

For the most part we had a really mellow time at the park on both trips. It wasn't too crowded, not too many mud puddles to avoid, we didn't lose any toys, we didn't steal too many toys, all around it was a good day! A special thanks to Bickie (Coco's mom) for making my favorite Quinoa salad today! She is so sweet - she makes my favorite salad every Tuesday because she knows it is my first long day of the week and that I never have time to get lunch! She makes my day every time - Thank you Bickie!!!

Outside of the dog park: Little Stella, the king charles cavalier, who goes on walks with Nancy, had to go to the emergency room last night. She was throwing up blood and they still have to run some more tests to see what it could be. She is on medication and is doing much better today after a few visits and lots of love from Nancy. Just a reminder that if you don't have pet insurance, right now is a great time to do it! I recommend Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, Trupanion, or Embrace.

Sometimes my clients say the funniest things about their dogs... since you all say them, I figured you might like to hear what other people say about their own dogs, so I would like to start a "client quote of the day" section. This will of course remain anonymous and I will take the dog's name out of it as well. To start us off, here is a quote that had me literally laughing out loud to myself in the car all day:

client quote of the day:

"(my dog would) steal a cookie from a kid and then knock the kid down in order to get a faster route to eating poop"

Don't forget to check out pictures of our day today on the ballwalkpark facebook page!

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