Mr. Fletcher strikes again

Mr. Fletcher, for those who don't know, is a dog to be known. He is a "Royal Frenchel" - A King Charles Cavalier/French Bulldog mix. He is most commonly known as having a ball stuffed in his mouth or screaming like crazy while out running the rest of the big dogs to get the ball. Mr. Fletcher is a very sensitive little man. He will hold a grudge on someone for something as simple as laughing at him while he poops. Seriously. So imagine how he feels about riding in the back of the car when he once was the king of the passenger seat! Well Mr. Fletch, you grew up, and you no longer fit on my lap, sorry buddy.

Today Mr. Fletcher had his revenge. I put all the very muddy dogs in the car, walked around and opened my door, only to find Mr. Fletcher back on his throne. He took matters into his own muddy paws and squirmed his way back into the front seat. Mud was everywhere!!! My first reaction was to get mad, but then I looked at his guilty little face and I just started laughing. How can you not laugh at that face?! And yes, Mr. Fletcher got to ride home on the front seat - I figure he deserved it :)

He just lifted his leg....

Yes, that's right, one of my dogs lifted his leg and peed on a poor innocent man at the park! I was talking to this man (he is a park regular) and by the time I noticed what the dog was doing I couldn't move/get the words out fast enough to stop him! This dog is one of my best behaved and oldest clients - I have no idea what got into him! So, besides the fact this poor man had to walk around with pee on his leg, and it was an extremely awkward experience for all, it was pretty damn funny!

The dogs will always make me laugh

When ballwalkpark was still in the planning phases, and I was still stuck behind a desk in an office with no windows or human interaction, I was exploding with excitement at the thought of spending my days outside walking dogs and playing fetch at the off-leash parks. Becoming a dogwalker sounded too good to be true. I was ready to put everything I had into making starting a dog walking business a reality. Friends, family and co-workers were all very supportive and provided encouragement on a daily basis - but the one thing I heard over and over was, "you know, it's still going to be a job, it's not ALL going to be fun". My response to that was, yes, dog walking is a job and it won't ALL be fun - I will be picking up poop, covered in mud, chasing down misbehaving dogs and spending hours in a car while suffocating on dog farts, BUT I will laugh, and smile and be happy! Over a year later, I can honestly say that even on my very worst day at the dog park, at least one of my dogs did something that made me laugh out loud to myself. Many, many days would pass in that solitary confinement of an office where I wouldn't as much as crack a smile. This blog is intended for me to share all of the things the dogs did throughout the day that made me laugh... I have been posting pictures on my Facebook page facebook.com/ballwalkpark.seattle for months but was never able to tell the full story behind the pictures of our dogwalking adventures, so I felt that the moment that had me laughing hysterically in the car for 20 minutes can't be fully appreciated by fellow dog lovers.

Here is one of my favorite photos to get things started:

This is Cooper, an 8 month old Vizsla, and Bambi, my 9 month old French Bulldog. Cooper gets a little too excited in the car so he rides in the front with me with his seatbelt harness on. When Bambi comes along she rides in the front with her buddy Cooper - he always has his arm around her. The second she gets in the car they cuddle right up. In this pic I caught a great moment with Cooper yawning, but looks like he is going to eat Bambi's pretty little face!

We're off to get our paws muddy at the park!

Until next time!