hint, hint...(dammit) I know I've mentioned "the baby" in a past post...otherwise known as a Pug, but don't tell her that. She is extremely high maintenance in that she's spoiled rotten! What made me think of this as she's sitting on my lap while I type one-handed, is I ran across the instruction sheet I left for my mom when she was baby...errr...pet sitting while I was in Guatemala. This is the letter I left her:Cassie has free run of the house and will probably want to sleep with you. She gets over-heated under the covers if it’s too warm and will start panting. This is very bad for Pugs! I keep a bottle of water and a bowl on the nightstand to give her if she starts panting. She may insist on going
under the covers even if she’s hot. If she does, I let her go under but then pull
the covers off and just leave the sheet on her. During this time of year, you’ll
probably, at least, need the fan on the A/c. You can also use the fan on
the stand in the bedroom. Keeping her cool is the only way to get
a good night’s sleep! If it’s warm during the day, close the bedroom
door and run the A/C. That will keep the room cool. We’re telling
you this for your own good…She’ll keep waking you up if she’s hot.
Feeding- She “free feeds” If her bowl is empty, refill it. She does
not have set eating times. She will beg terribly for table food.
DO NOT give her any! She’s been getting sick from it lately.
She has dog treats and she can have an occasional fruit loop that
we keep in a bowl for her for bribing.
If she has something in her mouth that she
shouldn’t….say “trade” and she’ll spit it out, then give her a fruit loop. (She actually looks for things that, say, people have dropped, like a Chap
Stik, piece of paper, anything, then she’ll come to you with it in her mouth so you can see that she has it)! She usually does this KNOWING full well that we’ll say “trade” so she can have the fruit loop!
Potty- She will either run in a circle or scratch on the back door to go out. You may still have to “bribe” her with a fruit loop to get her to the door (she‘s working the system-she‘s not stupid). Hold it over her and lead her to the door. Give it to her just before she goes out. When she comes in, she will expect a dog treat and will look at you for one. She almost never pees and poo-poo’s at the same time…she may go out, poo-poo, and come back in for her dog treat and 2 minutes later want to go back out to pee and expect ANOTHER treat when she comes back in again…not much you can do about it, though. She’s working the system. Sometimes she won’t go out for a long time (especially if it’s raining!) and this will make her sick…MAKE her go. Treats won’t work in this situation because she’s sick to her stomach and
doesn’t WANT them…you just have to pick her up and place her outside. Definitely make her go when you get up or she may not go for hours and she’ll get sick.
She’s not used to not having somebody here for very long periods of time. I
wouldn’t leave her for too, too long (over 6 hours) if it can be helped…again, the whole “sick to her stomach” thing.
She’s never been without us like this, so I hope you’ll give her a lot of attention so she
doesn’t get depressed and not eat (that’s why she can’t be in a kennel…she did that
there).
Katie pretty much knows the drill with Cassie and will be of great help,
but she
doesn’t know anything about her sleep pattern at night (see above).
She’s never been away from us at ALL, except for when she was
spayed, and spent the night at the vet's office. We tried leaving
her at the kennel at Disney for a few hours when we went in the
parks, and when we went to pick her up, she was so dehydrated from
not drinking all day, that her little nose was all “white” (from the salt
build up). She is very sensitive………..I know this seems like a lot to do
to take care of one little dog, but she has just always been treated like “the baby”!
Pathetic, isn't it?
