Joined
·
104 Posts
Hi everyone ... it's been awhile. I've just returned from almost 7 weeks away in England and Spain and boy does Mia have a tale to tell about her experience.
Because I was going to be gone for so long I decided to hire a dog/housesitter so Mia could stay where she was comfortable and happy. I canvassed friends and family for interest in the postition and asked them to let their own friends and family know. After talking to a few different people I settled on a woman who had 20 years experience dog sitting and came with glowing references.
Within a few days of arriving in England I started getting e-mail updates about how things were going and everything seemed to be going alright but there were worrying references to how in her "20 years of experience she had never come across a dog as anxious as Mia". This didn't make sense to me because, although she's a puppy and very boistrous, Mia is not what I would call anxious.
Two weeks into my 7-week vacation I got a cryptic e-mail saying her circumstances had changed and that looking after Mia was becoming more and more difficult. When I asked for clarification she said that as of the coming weekend she was no longer available to do the remaining four weeks.
Imagine my distress as I tried to figure out what to do from half way around the world. I started searching the web for a possible kennel situation for her but with the 8-hour time difference it was all a little challenging. In the meantime I also got a report from my daughter that Mia had essentially regressed and forgotten all of her training in the two weeks the dog sitter had been at the house. She was no longer house trained, she barked all night, she chewed anything that wasn't nailed down. In short she had become completely neurotic. I found out later that she had been left alone for long periods of time with free range of the house, even though our agreement was that she should never be left alone for more than about three hours and even then she should be put in her X-pen for her protection and the protection of my house. I also found out that the dog sitter had been leaving her own 13-year old sheltie alone at the house and that she had a caged parrot in our bedroom. No wonder Mia was anxious!!
In a panic I asked my good friend to carry out a dog rescue to remove Mia from my house and figure out the best course of action ... kenneling or some other solution for the remaining four weeks. I even told my son I would cut my trip short and come home if that's what was required.
My friend, who has a lovely seven-year-old Bedlington Terrier who Mia adores, decided that Mia had been so traumatized by her two-week experience with the dog sitter that she shouldn't be kenneled and said she would keep her (in defiance of her condominium bylaws) until I returned. Connie undertook to reestablish a routine for Mia and got some calming treatments for her from the vet. It has been a rough four weeks but in the end I arrived home yesterday to a lovely, sweet dog who was so happy to see me that she just sat on my lap giving me kisses for the first hour we were together.
There's still work to do to get her training back to where it should be and I have a little carpet cleaning to do in my house.
Here's a picture of Mia and her friend Dominque on one of their outings in July.
![]()
Because I was going to be gone for so long I decided to hire a dog/housesitter so Mia could stay where she was comfortable and happy. I canvassed friends and family for interest in the postition and asked them to let their own friends and family know. After talking to a few different people I settled on a woman who had 20 years experience dog sitting and came with glowing references.
Within a few days of arriving in England I started getting e-mail updates about how things were going and everything seemed to be going alright but there were worrying references to how in her "20 years of experience she had never come across a dog as anxious as Mia". This didn't make sense to me because, although she's a puppy and very boistrous, Mia is not what I would call anxious.
Two weeks into my 7-week vacation I got a cryptic e-mail saying her circumstances had changed and that looking after Mia was becoming more and more difficult. When I asked for clarification she said that as of the coming weekend she was no longer available to do the remaining four weeks.
Imagine my distress as I tried to figure out what to do from half way around the world. I started searching the web for a possible kennel situation for her but with the 8-hour time difference it was all a little challenging. In the meantime I also got a report from my daughter that Mia had essentially regressed and forgotten all of her training in the two weeks the dog sitter had been at the house. She was no longer house trained, she barked all night, she chewed anything that wasn't nailed down. In short she had become completely neurotic. I found out later that she had been left alone for long periods of time with free range of the house, even though our agreement was that she should never be left alone for more than about three hours and even then she should be put in her X-pen for her protection and the protection of my house. I also found out that the dog sitter had been leaving her own 13-year old sheltie alone at the house and that she had a caged parrot in our bedroom. No wonder Mia was anxious!!
In a panic I asked my good friend to carry out a dog rescue to remove Mia from my house and figure out the best course of action ... kenneling or some other solution for the remaining four weeks. I even told my son I would cut my trip short and come home if that's what was required.
My friend, who has a lovely seven-year-old Bedlington Terrier who Mia adores, decided that Mia had been so traumatized by her two-week experience with the dog sitter that she shouldn't be kenneled and said she would keep her (in defiance of her condominium bylaws) until I returned. Connie undertook to reestablish a routine for Mia and got some calming treatments for her from the vet. It has been a rough four weeks but in the end I arrived home yesterday to a lovely, sweet dog who was so happy to see me that she just sat on my lap giving me kisses for the first hour we were together.
There's still work to do to get her training back to where it should be and I have a little carpet cleaning to do in my house.
Here's a picture of Mia and her friend Dominque on one of their outings in July.
