Big Paws Only Dog Forums

We often take Bodhi with us when we visit my family.  I come from a long line of animal lovers, so they adore him.  He is an angel when he visits....just lays on the floor looking handsome, is gentle with the kids, only mooches food politely from a distance.  The only "bad" things he does is belch and drool, lol.  I follow him around with paper towels to clean up the slime, and my family squeals about how gross it is but they laugh and keep hugging him!

My husband's family is a different story.  They don't DISlike animals....the y just prefer to admire them from a distance.  We took Bodhi there a couple times when he was a baby.  He was an angel with them, too....then one visit when he was only 18 weeks old he drank out of the toilet....and my mother-in-law banished him from the house.  Give me a break....we had just arrived after an hour in the car, there was no water bowl out for him yet, he was thirsty, the toilet lid was up, what dog won't take a drink from it?  It's not like he crapped on the couch, lol. 

In any case....Bodhi hasn't been to her house since then, but she invited us to spend New Year's Eve with her (my father-in-law has since passed away and she didn't want to be alone).  We agreed, and asked if we could bring Bodhi with us.  She reluctantly agreed. 

I was a little on edge thinking this might be the one time he acted up....but pretty certain he would be fine and anxious to show her how good he could be.  Unfortunately, I didn't stop to think about how her house is....small rooms filled with furniture and delicate knick knacks.  Not a great place for Bodhi The Bull in a China Shop, lol.  I snuck around and slyly pushed things out of the way so he wouldn't knock them over.  Then I saw that she had all kinds of cheese, crackers and candies out on the kitchen counter for us to nibble on.  And Bodhi can counter surf on all fours, lol.  So I had to put that stuff away.  Then we ordered pizza.  Bodhi was very good and sat patiently waiting for a piece of crust...and dripped drool all over her newly upholstered hassock.  She said she would have to have it cleaned....I knew the drool would dry and disappear....a nd when it finally did I made a big deal out of pointing out that you couldn't even tell where it had been. 

After a couple hours she seemed to see that he was being good....he was lying by her chair and she reached down to give him a pat....and of course that made my friendly Newfie happy and he got up to interact with her some more....and slobbered all over the arm of her blouse.  Oh, sh!t.  LOL!  I got a paper towel and dabbed it off.  She laughed and seemed okay, and told him "Silly Slobber Dog!"....so he went up to make friends with her again...and let loose with a huge belch right in her face.  I couldn't help it....my nerves got the best of me....I cracked up.  She looked at me like I was crazy. She knows that I *HATE* belching, and can barely stop myself from smacking any person who does it in my presence.....b ut I kept laughing and told her, "He's a DOG....he doesn't know any better!". 

All in all, I think the evening went pretty well.  I was exhausted by the time we left....but Bodhi didn't break anything, did his business outside, and didn't drink out of the toilet.  Having 6 dogs, I know there isn't much more you can ask for, lol.  But I'll bet my mother-in-law spent an hour cleaning after we left, lol. 

Do any of you have family or friends like this?  Have you ever taken your BP to their house and been filled with tension??

Wow, I really need to get better photo editing software....wh en I resize the pictures for the board, they lose all their detail!  You can hardly see Bodhi's adorable snow-covered face!  Bummer!

What photo program do you all use??

One of the things I love most about Bodhi is that he is a big snuggler.  Every evening he climbs up on the couch and takes a nap on me.  He almost crushes me, lol....but it's so sweet I will lay smashed in an uncomfortable position for hours just to watch him (Gawd, I am ridiculously in love with my dog, lol!). 

This picture was taken a couple weeks ago when I was very sick with bronchitis.... Dr. Bodhi displayed his best bedside manner and kept me warm and cozy.  Isn't it adorable?? (Him, not me...I look like a sickly washed out scrub, lol......)

OMG. I came looking for this thread, excited to read if you had gotten her yet....I had this mental picture of her in my mind after reading about her...imagined her being quiet and dignified as she cared for a disabled child.  Then the first post I saw said "RIP, sweet girl".  I got quite choked up as I read what happened. 

Another wonderful animal that just got bad break after bad break, was passed around like an inanimate object, and suffered at the hands of people who obviously have no heart.  We read about it time and time again...and it never gets any easier. 

I wonder, what are being done with her remains?  It may seem a gruesome question....bu t I feel like someone should bury her in their yard or keep her ashes....give her the family and the respect she was denied during her life. 

In some ways I prefer winter baths to summer baths.  In the summer, the dogs always beg and beg to go outside....and if I am stupid enough to fall for it, they run out to the yard and roll in the dirt!  Thirty minutes of back breaking labor undone in 30 seconds!! (I have 3 herniated discs in my back....so dog bathing is h*ll on Earth) 

In the winter they are much more amenable to staying inside.  My biggest problem is keeping them off the furniture while they are wet, lol.  They all hate the blow dryer, so I don't have much choice!

I was wondering if the files found would have different names....becau se I am not seeing any that have the names I gave to them (zillycouch.jpg ...bodhixmas.j pg...stuff like that).  I tried setting filters so the program would only retrieve .jpg files, but it has still come up with about 30,000!!  I hope my pictures are in there somewhere...so far I have only found the temporary internet files....it will take me forever to got through everything, but it's worth it if I can find my pictures....

This is the first day in almost 3 weeks that I have not had a petsitting gig.  Between my own crew of six and all my clients, I have been up to my eyeballs in dogs, LOL! Here is an example of my days...this was my schedule last Friday:

6 a.m. - Out of bed and rushing out the door
6:40 - Arrive at the house of Max & Chugach & China the cat, who live waaaaay out in the boonies....I feed them all and take Max & Chugach out for a walk, taking great care not to let China out....she is NOT happy about being kept inside while her owners are gone and serenades me with yowling the whole time I am there, lol
7:15-7:45 - Drive back out of the boonies to my next client
7:45 - Arrive at the house of Onnie & Lucy for breakfast, medications, and a 20 minute walk
8:30 - Arrive at the house of Mac & Gitchi (the Cairn Terrier Wonder Twins, lol. They are my "VIP" clients...Very Important Puppers!) for breakfast, walk, tummy scratching and serious spoiling
9:30 - Back home for a couple hours to take care of my own dogs
11:30 - Back to Chugach & Max for last visit before owners come home....so I do once over of the house, run the vacumn cleaner, leave them my Visit Log, and listen to China the cat yowl some more
12:45 - Back to Onnie & Lucy for their long lunch walk, about 40 minutes
1:45 - Back to Mac & Gitchi for a short lunch walk
2:15 - Home again for a couple hours
4:30 -Back to Onnie & Lucy for dinner, meds, and another 20 minute walk
5:00 - Back to Mac & Gitchi for dinner and walk
6:00 - Home again for my own dinner
8:00 - Back to Mac & Gitchi for bedtime walk and Snuggle Time on the couch (they are so cute...I call "Snuggles!!" and they run to the couch and sit up and wave their front paws at me, then jump in my lap and roll around with glee!)
9:00 - Back to Onnie & Lucy for bedtime walk...and since the owners make me leave Lucy out of her kennel at night in spite of her horrendous separation anxiety and never put anything away, I must go through the house and lock up all potentially dangerous items....clean ers, lotions, soaps, glass, etc
10:00 - Home and ready to drop....get to catch about 6 hours of sleep before I start all over again!

And the worst part is, I've had Bronchitis for 2 weeks and have been coughing and sniffling and am really worn down.  I feel like I've been pulled through a wringer....lol ol...