I like pet sitting. I've met some very cool pets. One of my first pet sitting experiences was pet sitting for three Newfoundlands. Two girls and a boy. The male was HUGE! Bushman! I'll never forget him. He was a rescue and the sweetest dog. Newfoundlands are water dogs. Bred for water rescue and it is very ingrained in them. My brother came over and went swimming once, and only once, while I was staying there and the girls thought he was drowning and jumped in to save him. He freaked out and almost drown for reals. The first night I spent with the newfies Bushman came over and put his head on the bed just out of my reach so I patted the edge of the bed for him to come closer. He did. He jumped straight up and landed right on top of me. All 250 pounds of him. My life flashed before my eyes and I thought I was dead! I was fine. The next morning I got up and ran downstairs to let the dogs out. When I hit the tile floor I skidded right into the glass door. It seems the dogs had been standing around drooling on the floor setting a kind of dog sitter booby trap. Despite that I very much enjoyed staying with those dogs.
Another memorable pet I sat for is Saddie. She was a big (very well trained) German shepherd. I always felt totally safe staying with her because you would have to be crazy to try to break in to her house. Her parents said sometimes she wasn't good with new people so they wanted to go camping for overnight and have me stay at there house to see if Saddie was ok with me. My first half hour there was uneventful. I sat on the couch reading with Saddie curled up next to me. We were sitting quietly when I heard a rustling/scratching coming from the fire place. At first I thought I was hearing things but Saddie had heard it too. We were both staring at the fire place and the noise was getting louder. "Santa?" Nope. A sparrow shot out of the fire place and went zooming around the living room. Saddie was barking her head off and the bird was shitting on everything! I managed to get Saddie locked in the bathroom and shoo the bird out the door. The next day when her owners got home they were cracking up. "That's so funny. Nothing like that has ever happened to us."
The next time I stayed with Saddie was even more eventful. I had had my wisdom teeth out the day before so I had planned on sleeping most of the time I was with her. It was about 2 am when I heard a scratching coming from outside. Saddie wanted to go investigate but being a chicken I wanted her in with me. It really sounded like someone was in the back yard so I called my dad who told me to call the cops. I did and they came right over. The officer went in the back and decided it was just a raccoon but to call him back if it continued. About 3 am There was a knock on the door. A man dressed like he was from PG&E was standing there and asked if he could get into the back yard to check the power line that was back there. I didn't see a car and refused to open the door. I told him I was going to call the officer back and he could talk to him about it. The officer came back and talked to PG&E man. Turns out other people had called the police about the noise and There was a branch on the power line in the back yard of the house I was staying at. I got dressed and let the officer and PG&E man in the back. By 4 am there was a whole crew in the back yard with chain saws removing branches and massacring the tree. I couldn't sleep through all the noise and Saddie was going nuts so we went into the spare bedroom. About 7 am the crews were still working and I decided to take Saddie out on a walk. Saddie's parents had neglected to tell me not to close myself in the spare bedroom because the door sticks and you can't get out. Thank God I had my purse in there with me and my purse had my house key in it. I must have been fun to watch, climbing out the window in my pajamas in front of all the workers (good thing I was wearing sweats to sleep in). I let myself in the front door and took Saddie on her walk. PG&E was real nice. They slaughtered the tree and left the carnage of branches all over the yard. Saddie was in heaven. "Throw the stick! Throw the stick!" Typical dog. Saddie's parents found the whole thing hysterical! "Things like this only happen when your here!" They ended up moving to Michigan which was sad. I liked Saddie and would be happy to still be sitting for her.
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