Cozy Caves for Christmas - 50% off today!

If you have a dog that likes to burrow, a Cozy Cave is a must on your pup's Christmas list. Luckily for you, they are 50% off today on Doctor Foster and Smith website! Click here to get this amazing deal! No, I don't get anything for promoting this, I just like to share my excitement because I need to get Bambi one for the boat too! The cozy cave is like a pita pocket for dogs. It keeps them warm and cozy during the winter months and ideally keeps them out of your bed, unless you want them there :)

Bam and Harley like to share a cozy cave, but assuming you only have one dog, I'd suggest a small for a frenchie sized dog, a large for a Vizsla sized dog, and an XL for a doberman sized dog. I don't know why they don't have a medium...

Go ahead and cross one thing off your holiday shopping list!

Toy of the season

Miles, Bailey and I just found our new favorite toy:  NiteIze Innovation Meteorlight K-9. It is a rubber ball that lights up when you push it. This ball is perfect for Seattle winters when it gets dark out at 4pm. I don't know about your dog, but Bailey loses way too many tennis balls when it is dark out, and she rarely loses a ball! The ball is powered by an LED light and it changes colors as it flies through the air. The dogs had no trouble finding the ball in the pitch dark and I was constantly entertained watching the changing colors bouncing through the dark. I bought the meteorball at the Queen Anne All The Best. They said they've heard from others that the battery lasts about 3 months.

I have hesitated buying this ball for so long because it is $11.99, which in my mind, is outrageous for one ball, but if the dogs can see this ball and we don't lose it, it may be cheaper than losing numerous orange rubber balls! 

This may just be how my neurotic mind works, but I am very grateful to not worry about having to rush through my day so I can play ball with the pups before the sun goes down. Or lets be honest, this time of year in Seattle, some days the sun never even comes out....

Manic Monday

Monday was the fourth and last day that I was house sitting for one of our clients. I had a wonderful weekend with her two Incredibly sweet and playful King Charles Spaniels. It was an uneventful and relaxing weekend followed by the ultimate case of the Mondays. I woke up to a torrential downpour, The news said there had already been an inch and a half of rain by the time I woke up. I went downstairs the basement to find a pipe had burst and the floor was soaking wet. I called my client and she schedule to have someone come out that evening to take care of it.

I came back after the park to find that the power was out. My phone died at the park because it got too wet through my non-Gore-Tex jacket. I was running back to the house to use the phone to call Michael because we had to leave to take the puppy (thats another story, see here) to the vet appointment in Kirkland in 10 minutes. When I realized the power was out, I let the dogs out to go to the bathroom, grabbed the Thanksgiving turkey that had been delivered the night before from the fridge so it wouldn't go bad, and ran into another client's house( who happens to be coworkers with this client), hoping to use the phone, negotiate some fridge space for the turkey, and heat up my lentil soup. Unfortunately her power was out too.

While I'm at my other client's house discussing what to do about the dogs during the power outage as well as the Thanksgiving turkey, It occurs to us that the four baby chicks in the guest bathroom upstairs need the heat lamp to survive. I had to take a step back and realize that I was juggling two dogs, four baby chicks, a frozen turkey, a burst pipe and a power outage. And that is a day in the life of a dog walker…

Luckily the power was back on in an hour and the dogs didn't even notice. The baby chicks stayed warm, the turkey stayed cold, I met the guys who came to clean up the pipe mess and my client made her connecting flight home. Everything turned out just fine but it was quite a whirlwind of Old McDonald's Farm for a bit there.

Kelley-proofed house

A couple years ago I started walking two Vizslas, Miles and Oliver. Both dogs were picked up at Miles' house, where there were two small children, and the house was very childproofed. A couple weeks into our service, I went to pick up the dogs and the nanny wasn't home and the dogs were locked behind a baby gate in the kitchen. I spent a solid 10 minutes trying to figure out how to open the damn baby gate. I knew the baby gate was intended for the kids, not the dogs, because these dogs routinely jumped 4' fences at the dog park. It was actually their main way to enter and exit the park. So here I am, defeated by the baby gate, and trying to figure out what to do with these dogs. Knowing how much they like string cheese, and jumping over things, I decide my only option is to teach the dogs how to jump over the baby gate. It only took a few minutes and we were out the door.

Years later, I am housesitting at Miles' house and am still defeated by all of the child proofing things. Apparently child proof = Kelley proof. These baby gates, electrical plugs and cabinet thingys are way beyond me. Apparently teaching dogs agility on a whim isn't.