After anxiously leaving their dog with a pet sitter for a few days, a family began to relax and thought that no news was good news. But when day three rolled around and they received a text, that sentiment quickly changed.
Dog owner Karen Marsh told Newsweek via email that the family went on a business trip and couldn’t take their 9-week-old petit basset griffon vendéen, Dougie, with them. This made them nervous because a previous experience leaving Dougie with someone ended in a “disaster,” but they decided to try a new pet sitter.
Her home had a secure garden for all the dogs to run and play in. Dougie could have all the time he wanted outside and had his own bed inside at night.
“He had been introduced to Elena beforehand,” Marsh said. “We visited her house to see her setup and for her to see how Dougie reacted with the other dogs, especially her own dog.”
When they returned about a month later, Marsh made Dougie feel as if he was going to visit his friends. It got him excited, and he was happy when they arrived. But, of course, they still hesitantly left him and hoped he would survive the five days apart with no problems.
The first update came about a day and a half later. A picture showed Dougie enjoying his time with the sitter’s cat rather than the other dogs.
“We didn’t get any messages after that,” Marsh said. “We were thinking no news is good news until Elena sent us the photo of our forlorn-looking pooch on WhatsApp, with the message ‘Fed up with the weather and the other dogs running around.'”
By day three, Dougie had propped himself up on a chair in the corner, out of the way from any other dogs getting him. He’d had enough of the other dogs’ energy, which didn’t come as too much of a surprise to the family. Dougie typically spends only a few minutes playing with the other dogs before opting for his alone time, Marsh explained.
“She said he was fine but described him as being quite an independent sort of dog,” Marsh said. “I think it was her polite way of saying that he was a bit antisocial.”
Dougie sits in a chair away from the other dogs at a day care. The pet sitter told the owners he tends to like his alone time, which didn’t surprise them.
Karen Marsh
“Gladly, we were actually on our way to the port to catch the ferry home, but we all went ‘Awwwwwww, poor Dougie’ when we saw it,” Marsh said. “Have to admit we all had tears in our eyes.”
The family didn’t need to rush home to save Dougie as his social battery ran down, because they were already on their way. Dougie needed to wait an extra day because they were arriving at midnight. The original plan was to get him the next day at 11 a.m., but after the text, they pushed the pickup time to 9 a.m.
“When I went to collect him, Elena told me that he had got up to mischief the day before,” Marsh said. “She has two barriers on the stairs to enable her cat to eat in peace. The problem is that Dougie knows that’s where there are cats, there’s kibble, so breaching the barriers was a temptation he couldn’t miss.”
Marsh said Elena was a great pet sitter, but they will leave him with a sitter again only if they have no other choice. He usually comes with them everywhere. This was a rare time they couldn’t.
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