It's raining cats and dogs

Well I thought for this blog I would share with you some photos of some of my animal clients. they are all lovely and each have their own personality and mannerisms (just like humans). The job is really going well and it is doing everything I wanted it to. I am getting out walking in all weather - yes even when it is raining cats and dogs.


These photos are my regulars and I have been visiting them all for the last couple of months. I am glad they have kept me on the same area consistently as it lets me build up a friendship and trust with each of the pets and this makes my life easier as they respond more to commands after a few visits. It also helps in that I no longer need to use my GPS to get to the houses and can drive without any aid, this along with not having to read the information sheet for each visit takes about 5 minutes off the time I need each visit which adds up over the day.




My first one is Plato.

His breed is Standard poodle and he comes up to my waist.

He is completely mad and relies on his looks to get by rather than his intelligence, I guess he is the doggy equivalent of a bimbo. He is quite highly strung and loves chasing after trucks that drive by and chasing stones if you kick them on the pavement. He lives with a Jewish family of Julia and Matt with 3 year old daughter Hannah. Hannah is looked after by her Russian grandmother who I talk to every time I go into pick up Plato. she is a mine of local information and just fun to chat with.
Plato comes running as soon as he hears my key in the back door and loves to stand with his head bowed in front of me letting me pat his head and play with his floppy ears.
In these photos he is a bit shaggy as he needs to be clipped. It was so funny when he was just clipped as he looked really gaunt and like a completely different dog.

These two beauties are Tango and Romeo the cats. They are not my regulars and only get looked after when their owners - The Horwitzs - are on holiday. They remind me of Trudie, Jethro and Dexter when I visit them. They both come running when I go in the house and their favourite game is to lick your hands and arms clean with their rough little tongues. Very loving cats and always look like they could get up to a lot of mischief.

This tiny wee thing is Ellie. She is a Chihauhau/Rat terrier mix. She was an abused dog who was rescued by her owner. It is heartbreaking to think of someone mistreating her as she is such a loving little thing once she gets to know you. Because of the abuse she does not like people very much until she trusts them and it was sad at first to see her so scared of me as if I was going to hurt her. She actually bit me the first time I went in and tried to get her collar and leash on but she was just so terrified - it wasn't an aggresive thing but just self defense. Now when I go in she comes running and jumps up onto my leg and then runs to the door to get her collar and lead on.

She loves her walk as she has so much excess energy and I almost have to run to keep up with her which is so funny as she has tiny little legs. I look forward to this walk as it is usually my first of the day and it is a good fast walk for half an hour.

This funny little face is Buffy the pug. She is very loved by her owner and is left at home during the day with her own blanket on the couch and the tv left on showing all the soap operas and Project Runway on. When I go she jumps of the couch and goes and chooses a toy from her toy box to bring to me. Her favourite toy is the frog in the second photgraph, so cute.

Buffy hates the rain and when you take her outside in it she won't move and gives you a look as if to say "WTF you dragged me away from my warm couch out into this" as she has a very expressive face.

I have found myself tucking her under my arm with her wee Burberry coat on and carrying her away from the house a couple of blocks so she has to walk home when it is raining.

Did you know that pugs have very sensitive throats so you should never walk them with a collar and leash and shoudl always use a harness so that you are not tugging on their necks!

These next two ladies are Ubu and Maggie Moo. Two large black labradors. I have them for an hour most days and they are a right handful to walk together. I try and walk them together and they love being with each other but some days I have to take them out individually when I am to tired to handle them both. Maggie is fatter, older and a bit slower and is very well behaved, if a little excitable. She loves to meet new people but will sit in front of them and get patted.

Ubu on the other hand is still a puppy in labrador terms and is very strong and pulls a lot. When she spots a squirrel or another dog I have been known to almost fly off my feet if I am not ready for her drag.

They are both very loved as they belong to a couple who are having trouble with fertility. Lara is an art teacher and has been struggling with fertility issues and mental health issues and the dogs are her babies. I have met Lara a couple of times and she seems really lovely if a little sad. The karma of the house is a bit sad overall.

I certainly get a good workout when I walk these dogs as it is an hour of being dragged at quite a good speed.

This old dear is one of my favourites. She is Sheba and is a twelve year old Black Lab. She was also an abused dog who was rescued when the son was 21 years old. She walks really slowly and plods along like a big brown bear.

Her owner is unsually in when I pick her up and she is very complimentary of me and says she only keeps the company on because Sheba adores me so much.

I usually walk her mid way through my day and it a nice respite and restorative walk after my other more energetic clients.

This intelligent chap is Rufus. He is a Nova Scotia Duck Retriever. He also looks forward to his walk and has a real intelligence behind his eyes when you look directly into them. His family is lovely, Lynn and Rich and their two wee daughters Esther and Maia. He is a very loved dog and is so loving and well behaved. I got a Christmas present of a lovely hardback book full of doggy photos from him.

This puppy is Rosie. She is a yellow labrador. While she is a lovely little thing I don't enjoy walking her so much as she doesn;t really walk but just sniffs about. We don't usually cover much ground and she can be very stubborn and I spend half my time trying to drag her home.

The plus side to this dog is that she lives close to a woods. Most of my walking is on suburban streets so it is nice for once to get into some trees and off the streets. A family of deer live in the woods and we quite often come across them. Luckily Rosie is not bothered with them so we get very close to them without Rosie trying to chase them away. the worst part of this walk is that Rosie like to try and eat the deer poo, so I have to be quite vigilant when she is sniffing around so that she doesn't.

Well that's all the ones I managed to get photos off and most of my regulars anyway. I have just signed up two more houses on my normal route.

Ziggy is a mad, vegetarian, holistic dog. Not sure what that entails but she is crazy and poos a lot of sweetcorn!

Calvin and Meli and 2 sweet puppies, one black and one yellow lab. They are so young and frolic about with each other. I take them out together for now but will need to separate them when they get bigger and stronger.

Well I love my job still even when it has been mad for the last week with a lot of people being away for the holidays and having lots of extra houses and pets to visit. The other day I was walking for 6 hours in the day with different dogs. Completely knackered at times but very happy with it (and with the extra money!).

Hope you enjoy the photos and my brief descriptions of each of my clients. Take care. Xx