Thursday, May 10, 2012

My first day as a Dog Walker..... LOVED IT! :)

I'd been waiting for this day to come for awhile and finally, finally it came.

The previous night was a disaster and I had spent the bulk of the previous night crying my eyes out so you can only imagine just how pretty I look aka my eyes looked TERRIBLE.  Whatever though, that's what make up is for, right?

Moving on and back to my story... I went over to M's house to meet up with D, whom I was shadowing with for the day, to get a picture of what a typical day looks like for her.  We started around 10:15 and we were done 4 hours later.  In our travels, I met a Golden Retriever that had the energy of a small child up in Pat's old neck of the woods, a couple of Labs - one Golden and one black - the Golden had neck surgery not long again repairing a disc of hers, and then shortly after, she tore/essentially blew a tendon in her leg and she was being confined to the kitchen wearing a lovely "lamp shade" if I do say so myself, her compadre, the black Lab, typical happy and playful.  Also met up with Cocker spaniel litter mates, yet very different from the other.  A Labradoodle named Parker and a sturdy Yorkie named Chess.  Met a small black dog who's been a big growly lately due to being recently spayed (shit, I'd be cranky too if I had my innards ripped out) but she adored me instantly, loved me up and wait for it, peed on my foot.  I guess I had this effect on her.  lol.  Also visited with two small pocket dogs and then finally, my favourite whom I've been thinking of ever since - Annie and Henry.  Annie is a 5 month old chocolate Lab, typical puppy, she's under, she's over, she's jumping, she's playing... And then there's dear Henry.  Henry came from Greece and he's about 4 to 6 years old.  He had been living at a vet's office for close to a year, huddled up in a kennel because no one had the heart to put him down or take him.  He kind of looks a bit like Bo, Obama's Portugese Waterdog - same type of curly-like hair and a white patch on his sternum/chest.  Henry is only a bit shorter in the legs but he looks a lot like a Portugese.  Anyways, Henry has canine narcolepsy.  Yes, you heard that right - canine narcolepsy.  He's on medication that prevents him from falling to the ground in a sleep-state like a ton of bricks.  His meds actually slow his fall down quite a bit, but Henry will fall asleep while he's playing, while he's eating, while he's drinking...He falls asleep constantly.  He's not out for long but you'll see his front leg wiggle a bit and then you anticipate him slinking down slowly as his eyes fade or sometimes rolling into the back of his head like he's in a deep REM sleep.  He's just precious.  He fell asleep maybe 3 times when we saw him in the morning and maybe once in the afternoon.  He's totally fine though, you can see when he's about to go down and you just make sure he's safe.  If you're walking him, you just pay attention to his movements, especially when you're about to cross a street, because the last thing you'd want is him falling asleep in the middle of the road.  He's just such a special little thing, you look into his eyes and it's like you can see into his soul, there's definitely a connection there.  So I hope to see him from time to time working weekends when perhaps his human parents go away or have vacation.

All in all, it was a fantastic day and I left feeling amazing.  Definitely not a job but rather something fun and therapeutic.  I just love it so much.  I did notice that I was scratching my neck like mad so I've got enough Benadryl to take before my shifts to last me a lifetime.

I start in a couple of weeks and I absolutely can't wait!  :)

Off to Hot Yoga now <3

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