Adventures of Red Dog (and a redhead too)

A celebration of uniqueness.

2010-07-31T19:38:00.001-07:00

Have you ever really looked at a pug's tail? If you have a vivid imagination, as I do, you might notice it looks an awful lot like a cinnamon roll. And they all have that characteristic snorty grunt thing, which is so adorable.
Then you have the French bulldogs, who have no tail really at all. It's just a small tuft of hair that wiggles.
Dachshunds have short chubby legs, of course......but have you ever seen a dachshund mixed with a basset hound? Or maybe a Spitz? I can't be sure and I don't have proof, but I'd be willing to bet that one of our clients' pups is a wiener dog/Spitz mix. Short legs, a little bowlegged, but with fur like a cotton ball and wolf like ears. It's the cutest thing.
We take care of a whippet who can literally climb like a monkey, up your back, a fence, whatever she fancies. There are dogs that lick you all over the face, and dogs that never do.......dogs that freak when you pet them on the head, or belly, or back......
We celebrate the quirks of all our furry friends, don't we? I think that's what makes them ours. :)
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The joy of multiple pet families.

2010-05-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

There are folks who are dog people, and some who are cat people. So many of the clients we serve have multiple pet families -- dogs, cats, birds, even a snake (gotta give a shout out to Cecil!). At one point, we had two guinea pigs -- Burps and Giggles (very cleverly named by a 4 year old).

Karl and I are proud owners of three dogs and six cats -- I think it helps give us a bit more cred when we're chatting with potential clients, who've had a difficult time finding a reputable pet sitter. Having a large group of furry friends in your house is work! Dealing with random urine spots, kitty vomit, the enormous amount of pet hair, the cat who likes to meow very loudly in the middle of the night, and so on........oh, and don't forget the large amount of poop in the backyard. Hey, it's good fertilizer, right? :)

The pet info form that we send out to clients is pretty detailed -- imagine, though, when you have a client with nine pets! Inevitably, we'll have extra notes, which is great and helps us do an even better job. You'll get nine different personalities, each with various quirks and issues. It's a lot to keep track of, but we pride ourselves on being able to handle it. We've looked for cats under the bed or covers, seen dog poo in a variety of colors, sat on the floor next to a dog so he or she will eat, hand fed dogs (and treats to a cat!). We've pretended to eat a dog's kibble in order to make them jealous, therefore getting them to eat (Karl does that a lot -- I think he may have been a dog in a former life). We've hung out with cats who see you and think "jungle gym" and cats who see you and freak out. We've been locked out, set off alarms, made mistakes, gotten pooped on, called a dog or cat by the wrong name when talking to a client, and gotten all manner of scrapes and scratches. Once you do a sit a few times, you begin to learn the personalities........and yes, it is possible to learn the personalities of nine different animals. Remember the pet info form I mentioned before? Never leave home without it -- especially if a client has attached special notes or extra instructions. Trust me.

Milestones.

2010-03-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Today, it happened. I always suspected it would happen before now, being a pet sitter and all.......and just when I thought I was scot free......bam.

Today, I got pooped on. Yep, lovely runny poop, right down the leg. I've stepped in it, accidentally touched it when picking up during a dog walk; I've even wiped the occasional dog tush. But today was the day I got christened. Bless the poor dog's heart who did it; she is a particularly anxious pup. I thought I was helping her by picking her up, because she was scared of the Yorkies walking our way. Seems I made it worse, as she chose that moment to let loose. And boy, do I mean loose.......whew.

I suppose it's one of the milestones you achieve in this job......not that you ever want it to happen, but it's inevitable. You will get licked, peed on, and sneezed on. You'll clean up cat vomit and hairballs. You'll wipe noses, faces, and furry butts.

But, to me.....it's all worth it. And it sure does make for some awesome stories to tell......

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Say hi to Jade!

2010-02-27T21:56:00.000-08:00

Details.......

2010-02-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

Haven't written in a while......with the fantastic response to my last blog, you'd think I'd be chomping at the bit to write something. There are always things to write about, but, you also have to have the time and motivation to do it! So here we are.....

I'd like to think, after a year of being in the pet sitting biz, that I'd be a pro. An expert even. When we tell folks that we do this work, we very frequently get the "you must be crazy" look. Or, we get comments like, "oh, that must be such an easy, fun job!" To that I would say, yes, it is fun......but no, it is not typically easy. We've learned over the past year that there are various ways to make things easier......but unexpected, sudden situations come up, things we may not have planned for. I suppose you could say that we've come to "expect the unexpected." And, it's really a job requirement we try to emphasize, not only for ourselves, but for anyone who works with us.

The "anatomy" of a pet sit or dog walk is important. First and foremost, no animal is the same, whether it be dog, guinea pig, cat, snake, or bird. Each animal has a distinct, and very unique, personality........and it's important to adjust your way of doing things for each one. We always tell our clients to be as detailed as possible (or "nerdy", as one client called it) on the pet info form, and there's a reason for that. It matters if a dog only likes to walk in a certain place, if he or she will only poop on a certain patch of grass. It matters if a cat won't come out from under the bed, and occasionally pees outside the litter box. It matters if a dog or cat is diabetic and needs insulin. Every single detail matters.

We try to follow our clients' instructions to the letter.........but, there are certain extra special details that we try to focus on as well. I truly believe these details are what sets us apart, what makes us different, and most importantly, what keeps our clients coming back.

This past year has been incredible..........it's been hectic, crazy, fun, busy beyond belief, but our lives are so FULL and so amazing. We're lucky to be in this business and lucky to have met so many awesome folks.

*Lastly, I just have to put in another plug for pit bulls. I'm watching "Pit Boss" as I write this and couldn't resist. This time, I'll mention another one of our clients' dogs -- her name is Jade, and yes, she's a pittie. Her human parents adopted her a few months ago -- she was six years old, had just delivered a litter of puppies, and they fell in love with her. After meeting her, I immediately knew why. She loves to be with you, loves to walk, and loves to give nuzzles. Jade is a wonderful ambassador of the pittie breed, and I just had to give her a shout out!

The stigma against pit bulls....

2010-01-31T13:07:00.001-08:00

Occasionally, we receive calls from clients, or potential clients, who have pit bulls as pets. I can't tell you how many times I've answered the question, "Do you care for pit bulls?" I always say yes -- but, as with any pet-related business (especially pet sitting), I let them know that we prefer to meet the pets first. It isn't because of the pit bull, though.....we do an initial meet and greet with all of our new clients.

Today, we met with a new client who has a pit bull mix. Her name is Sydney (the dog, that is), and she's honestly one of the most beautiful pits I've ever seen -- white with gorgeous steel gray spots -- and eyes that suck you right in. Her temperament is docile -- she barks when the doorbell rings like most dogs -- but her owner has experienced the "pit bull stigma" firsthand. She and her boyfriend are moving to Denver as soon as they find a house -- but, they have to live OUTSIDE Denver due to a pit bull ban (yes, a total ban) within the city. Apparently, if you own a pit and someone decides to report you, authorities will come to your house, take your dog, and euthanize it. No questions asked. I don't understand where this law came from, and I think it's utterly insane.

We have four or five pits on our roster, and all of them are sweet, loving, playful animals. They can be rambunctious, and they're strong as oxen, but they have a gentle nature. They may have "small dog" syndrome -- that is, they don't realize their strength and size -- but they aren't nearly as vicious as many people believe them to be.

If you've ever watched the shows "Pit Bulls and Parolees" or even "Pit Boss" then you know how many stray pit bulls are out there. People don't want to adopt pits. They go to the shelter and pass right by the sweet pit bull in the corner cage.......the dog that will probably end up euthanized due to lack of interest. If you've ever visited the website for the Humane Society of the US, you know how serious dogfighting is -- who doesn't remember the whole Michael Vick debacle? What I love about the HSUS is that they provide education about this misunderstood breed and dogfighting in general. They attempt to change legislation and have helped develop dogfighting laws. But the problem still remains -- pit bulls are shunned, abandoned, and discriminated against.

We love our pit bull clients. I feel pretty passionate about them......being the "underdog" and all. And many times, the "underdog" prevails. I hope that's the case one day.
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This week thus far.....

2010-01-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

What day is it? Tuesday? It honestly feels like five days crammed into two.

We got three new clients yesterday -- one who lives in Florida and will be visiting for her daughter's wedding. She also gave us a fantastic business idea -- kudos to her for suggesting it! It's always great to find new ways to promote -- always interested in broadening our horizons here at Red Dog and love new opinions! Here's to new and interesting ideas!

I've been walking the sweetest dog the past two days -- she's a beautiful German shepherd mix -- and such a joy to walk! She loves it so much......all of the new smells, sights, sounds.......you can't help but be happy with her.

Today's been just as busy -- cranking out newsletter stuff, doing the email and text thing, and I took one of our pooches to the vet. Funny how you sit there for over an hour only to spend 10 minutes with the vet. But, regardless of how busy our vet is, she always makes the time to answer questions. And I usually have a few. Luckily, Cassie is fine -- good weight, heartworm free, great health all around. :)

That's about all for now. I'm doing better at keeping up with this blog thing this time. Hope everyone who reads it enjoys it, because I really do enjoy writing it. More soon.....

The random quirks of pets......

2010-01-23T20:16:00.003-08:00

We take care of so many animals -- but, we also have nine (yes, NINE) of our own to care for at home. If you have pets, you know how different they all are.......how they each are special and have certain quirks. Imagine having nine different animal personalities at home......and if you're not absolutely appalled at that number, read on........

I bought Snoopy, our schnauzer mix, some booties at PetSmart earlier today. One of his quirks is that he likes to dig in the dirt........he's not digging for bones, or bugs........he just kicks his feet around. He must think that this makes him look more macho........he's got two girl dogs as family members, so he has to exert his manliness. ;) As soon as I get a picture of him with the light blue booties on, I'll post it. Trust me, you'll smile.

Snoopy has some other random personality quirks, but I have quite a few (ahem) others to mention, so I'll move on to........Cassie. She's our Heinz 57 girl -- we don't really know what kind of mix she is -- she's black and tan, with a bit of white on her belly and chest. Some jerk abused her when she was a puppy, so she is our timid one. Cassie, if confronted with a firm tone of voice, or too much activity, or even a weird noise, gets this frightened look on her face.......like doggie apocalypse, I swear. When she's scared, out comes the belly. She rolls over, belly up.......and you just can't resist (because all the while, she is also staring at you with the biggest puppy dog eyes known to man).

Mouse Man is one of our cats. He's a handsome fella, and very alpha. I have to say, though, that he has the strangest habit of all. Whenever Karl and I get into bed, Mouse gallops across the bed, settles himself on Karl's left side, and proceeds to suck one of his toes. He prefers that someone hold his leg so that he can reach this toe better........he did this with me once for about 10 minutes straight........needless to say, he reverts back to "womb mode" and kneads on your hand and arm the entire time. Yep, my left arm is still healing from those scratches.......

Rudy, another of our cats, is just rolly polly. Well, okay, he's just fat. Can that be a quirk? He's also a belly cat -- loves to have his tummy rubbed. Every time we come home, he expects a treat and will torment you with a loud MEOW........the fact that we leave and come home various times during the day doesn't matter to Rudy. Just so you know, he does NOT get a treat every time we come home. Please feel free to make comments about how he's too large and should lose weight -- trust me, we know......

Twitchy is just a scaredy cat (literally). Nah, that's too soft a term.......he's just plain horrified. He rarely comes out, unless things are quiet (usually when we're in bed).......he was semi-feral as a kitten but just never completely got over that. So, we hardly see him. If you approach him in a manner he sees as threatening (which is pretty much always), he hisses and growls.......so, not exactly Mr. Lap Cat.

Izzy is our dachshund. To say that she has quirks is a total understatement. She is hyper, silly, needy, and the bark that comes out of her is amazing considering she's so little. She is the princess of the household and totally knows it -- spoiled and sometimes quite bratty. She loves to burrow, plays fetch like there's no tomorrow, licks faces and jumps all over people. Izzy also has a habit of eating her treat first, or her rawhide stick, then coming back and hovering over the other dogs, hoping to catch a random crumb. That girl is all over the place. :)

Carson and Josie were my cats before we got married -- the other four were Karl's (Rudy, Mouse, Twitchy, and Herman). Carson has a dog personality -- and is the ultimate escape artist. Anytime we come home, we have to crack the door and make sure he isn't hovering, waiting to dart between our legs and explore the outdoors. He's succeeded quite a few times. Carson follows me around everywhere and we "talk." Any of you who have cats know about these "conversations." Josie is Carson's sister (from another mother), and she's the only female cat in the house........which means that she's really had to adapt. But, her way of adapting is to torment the other cats, especially Twitchy, who she has backed into a corner more than once. Her other quirk is that she will jump on the bed as we're trying to go to sleep........she proceeds to give herself a bath and make her dough.......which of course makes the bed move (very frustrating when you're trying to drift off into dreamland).

Herman........sweet little Herman. The only thing I can think of is the way that his face looks -- he's a beautiful cat, part Maine Coon, but has this odd line around his mouth.......the only way to describe it is that he looks clownish. It's as if he's escaped from the circus and forgot to take off his lipstick. Oh, and he never meows. Ever.

Let's see.......did I forget anybody? Rudy, Josie, Mouse, Carson, Twitchy, Izzy, Cassie, Herman, Snoopy. Oh, and Karl. I'll blog on his quirks later. ;)

We're so lucky, you know? We have all of these great pets at home, and we love them despite all of their issues and hang ups. Our house is always teeming with activity, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Just imagine when we have kids........

Test

2010-01-23T20:16:00.001-08:00

Testing blog email thing!
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2010-01-23T20:14:00.001-08:00

Testing the text blog thing.....

Some pics to peruse......

2010-01-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

On the right, see Snoop (and Cassie freaking out). Below, three-fourths of the kitty posse......

Wow, two days.......it's a new record!

2010-01-22T08:21:00.002-08:00

It’s another day here in Alabaster…….and I’m very impressed with myself! I’m actually posting on the blog today, and it’s only been two days ago that I started! Kudos to me…….

Karl and I are at home doing nothing. Kidding! He’s pecking away at the computer keys while I write this — it’s the time of the week where we contact our weekly clients to check on the next week’s schedule. So far, no surprises with that. So far today, I’ve emailed a few people, typed up a pet info form, and had about 3 or 4 cups of coffee……..

I completely forgot about the biggest news! Our new website, Red Dog 2.0, is UP! Same URL, totally different look. We are absolutely ecstatic — the site is an incredible improvement on the original, but we’ve still managed to keep it from looking too stiff. There are pictures of pets, plenty of links, AWESOME testimonials, a whole new “about us” story, and much more!

We’re about to celebrate one year of business, and so much has been accomplished……..looking forward to seeing what 2010 has in store for Red Dog.

Back into the world of blogging......

2010-01-22T08:21:00.001-08:00

I’d started a blog back in February or March, hoping to keep it updated……we’d just started our business, though, and things rapidly began to change and grow! Most people probably don’t even realize that I had a blog. Hopefully this one will be interesting and chock full of Red Dog News……we’ll see if this is a good start. :)

A little history, first of all — my husband Karl and I started Red Dog Sitting Services back in February 2009……..we are about to celebrate a year in business, AND over 100 clients! Red Dog is a pet sitting company…….although that is a very broad term, because we do so much more than pet sitting. Basically, we visit folks’ homes while they are away, checking on pets, plants, collecting mail, etc. But, our main focus is and always will be the pets. We do dog walking, pet taxi……basically whatever instructions our clients give us, we follow! Our mission is to maintain a routine for pets……..keeping them at home where they are most comfortable and most happy. Our clients love to come home to happy pets, and many have had horrible boarding experiences…….

How to sum up the past year? So much has happened, and each day something new comes up……..we meet a new client, play with a new dog or cat, make connections with animal shelters and animal advocacy groups, text like mad, email constantly, and occasionally get to take a nap……..

We’ve done oodles of marketing on the Web — we now have Facebook, Twitter, and updated LinkedIn profiles — we’ve passed out thousands of well-printed and perfectly cut brochures (this is a science according to Karl, ha) — we even did a direct mail campaign about a month ago. Google has been our best friend this past year — the majority of our business comes from there…….

Red Dog has a photo archive now of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of photos — we’ve met so many awesome people and fantastic pets! We’ve been playfully nipped at, peed on, jumped on, covered in dirt, knocked over, scratched, barked at, meowed at, and we’ve stepped in more dog poo than we can remember. The ultimate fun for us is getting to hang out with these great animals every day!

This is just a small intro to what we do and will continue to do. Cross your fingers (or paws) that I will keep this up!

Big news, and an explosion or two......

2009-03-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'm very behind in my blogging lately.....so much has been happening with our business, and personally, with my health......I've had some mystery illness for the past three days that has kept me from doing anything but sitting on the couch.

Karl is currently on the phone for the fourth or fifth time (I'm losing count today) with yet another inquiry.......this weekend has absolutely exploded with potential clients. We did more brochure distribution last week and got two bites from that......and all of a sudden our web campaign is really paying off, and we've gotten about three bites from people doing regular internet searches. I'm actually quite overwhelmed right now......Karl is eerily calm, but then again, he knows the business side of this. Now we're talking about “licensed liability company” and “independent consultants”........lots of things being thrown at me that I know nothing about. Oh, and of course now we're talking about hiring some help (already!). Good thing I have him to guide the way. It's difficult, though......being sick the past three days has also brought on some depression......he's faithfully plugging away and I'm sitting on the couch trying to cool down from a stupid fever. Along with all of the business-related things that need to be done, there are things around the house that need taking care of. I've never been the person to just idly sit by......so darn it, I want to feel better SOON!!

Next week is absolutely PACKED with assignments. Cats, dogs, even a fish. I'm amazed. One of our clients is a lawyer and has only been in business for a year or so. Her husband was telling me that they started the biz and nothing happened for months. All of a sudden they started getting hits, and continued to do so......and now her business is jumping. At the time, I thought......oh, we've got a few months to go......but now I'm eating my words.

All of the books that I purchased when we started talking about this thing are looking very interesting now......so next time I write, hopefully I will have started reading some of those things. Gotta bone up on my business speak. :)

More later.....

Cell structure of dogs......

2009-02-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

Search engines are amazing. You can basically type anything, in any way you prefer, and some sort of result will pop up. Karl has been faithfully keeping up with our website visitors on a daily basis along with various other website related tasks, and it turns out that the site developer keeps logs of who visits, what they type in the search engine, and so on and so forth.

I wonder if some of the folks that typed in these certain search terms actually thought about what they were typing before they typed it. For instance, one search term/question was: "Are dogs unicellular or multicellular?" Okay. Did you ever take biology? For that matter, are you a resident of planet Earth? We got some major laughs over that one. I'd love to meet that person......I'd hope that they would tell me it was a mistake or a joke.

Other search terms/phrases of note:

One person typed in "puddles." Just that. I have no idea if they were trying to spell something else or if they were actually interested in the anatomy of a puddle.

Another (and I quote): "How do pitbull get there food?" Um, they EAT it? They nurse from the mother dog? How do you think they eat? From a straw?
(I'm a stickler for grammar and spelling so this one really tickled me)

Others: "How long after producing milk will a dog have pups?" I don't get it.

DOGY LOVE.COM----Yes, someone actually searched for this. Either it was a child playing around with the computer, or someone is seriously nasty.

And speaking of nasty (drumroll please).......the last one I'll mention here is "girls @ dog sex." I honestly have nothing to say about that one.

Okay, okay, one more I just noticed, and I'll sign off. Here it is: "Can dogs and cats have babies together?" Good grief, I surely hope not. Those would be some extremely strange looking animals. Not to mention the poor cat.......

That's all for now.

2009-02-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

Brochures, brochures, brochures. Did I mention brochures? See picture at left. Only a fraction, I might add.

Blue string, punching holes, cutting paper, along with the inevitable paper cuts......that's what Karl and I have been working on the last day or two. Today we did our first distribution......managed to get about 150 out there. So, we're hoping to get some bites from that! If not, at least we got some fabulous exercise (let me just say that I don't like hills).

So tonight we started a big assignment with one of our steady clients who are on vacation until
Sunday. They have two sweet Yorkies who we absolutely love hanging out with. First problem---the clients just had a concrete sidewalk and patio poured.....so no backyard activity for the pups until at least Friday. Second problem---pups don't do well on the leash. I'm walking like a speed demon trying to keep up and Karl and I keep getting the leashes tangled......oh, the fun of it all! Lastly (and this really rubbed me the wrong way), a man came out of his house, obviously mad......gave us both looks like we were psycho serial killers on the loose in his neighborhood. Had the nerve to ask "What are you doing?" I mean, what did he think we were doing? A gal and a guy walking two furry creatures......it's just such a foreign concept! (note the sarcasm here) We politely told him that we were pet sitting for his neighbors and taking the dogs for a walk (duh).......he proceeds to say that he doesn't appreciate the dogs peeing on his lawn. Goodness. We're living and learning with this new adventure......and tonight was just another example of that.

Let me just add here that I don't appreciate his negativity. He obviously doesn't have dogs. Makes me want to go and put a lovely pile of dog poo right on his doorstep.

(I wouldn't do that, of course)

That's all for tonight. More tomorrow, hopefully (if we haven't been beaten up by the neighborhood bullies).

Signing off!

Ins and outs, ups and downs.......

2009-02-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

First blog here. There are so many things to talk about, most of which I’m not going into now. Starting a business (mostly thanks to my dear Karl) has been, in a word, interesting. Karl knows all about the biz and marketing aspects……and I’m finally starting to realize that my contributions (in whatever form they take) are valued and appreciated. This has been something I’ve struggled with, despite Karl’s repeated and unwavering reassurances that I DO contribute and I AM helping in so many ways. God bless that boy.

The reason I decided to blog about this……well, last week really reinforced my decision to write about our adventure. Like I said before, I’m not going into all of the gory details at the moment. I’ll sum it up in a small list.

1. Constant travel. We’re still moving into this new house and I was having to tie up loose ends at my old place. Karl of course still has his house in Georgia, which throws more issues into the mix.

(the reason I mention the travel is that it adds to our stress, what with starting a new biz and all)

2. Almost getting arrested for mail fraud. Well, not really…..we did get a very pleasant phone call from the local postmaster informing us that it was illegal to put brochures in private mailboxes. Thank goodness he wasn’t one of those postmen that go on shooting sprees…….

3. We went to this swanky neighborhood in our area and put these brochures in the mailboxes…….I drove and learned that it is very difficult to maneuver a truck close enough to the boxes. Especially in a cul-de-sac. I don’t recommend it. I also sideswiped a mailbox, but our lovely truck magnets (purchased to advertise our biz of course) saved the day. Turns out the magnet was knocked off of the truck by the mailbox……and since we love our magnets, we went back and picked it up.

4. Did I mention that this was all in two days’ time? Yes, two days.

5. I have become a dog trainer somehow (we have a pet sitting business by the way). I’m giving one of our clients advice on her puppy now. Seems some of that advice is working for her. Go figure. Guess those late nights watching reruns of “It’s Me or the Dog” are paying off. Thank you, Victoria Stillwell.

So these are just a few of the happenings thus far. Will be blogging later as things develop. Trust me, I could fill up five thousand e-mails with what we’ve experienced during the last few weeks.

Our biz is Red Dog Sitting Services. Our mascot is Izzy, hence the blog name “Izzy’s World.” Just a little extra tidbit I forgot to mention.

Signing off. Izzy, Karl and I need rest. :)

*Looking back at this post days later.....realized I blogged more than I planned to. So much more to tell too! :)