My thoughts while Dog Nannying in an Eclectic Home…
My job as a dog walker has been wonderful and entertaining-
not only because of the flexible schedule and the adorable pets with a
multitude of personalities, but also for a peek into people’s lives.
Not to sound creepy.
But it is fun to get a snapshot of what different people are
like.
So far I have visited a variety of homes: people who are
moving and hectic, a very clean military home with a taste for decorative beach
items, a Japanese themed condo, a dirty and disgusting home with no furniture
and itchy dogs, and now an eclectic home of an elderly couple. It contains
collections of all sorts- hats, tea cups (so many tea cups!) dolls, books,
native American heritage, and more! They are sweet elderly couple with adorable
elderly dogs and several cute birds. There’s also noises of all sorts (all
kinds of chimes from several different clocks, songs when you open the doors, a
door bell song….its like being inside of a music box.)
I like looking at pictures on the walls and wondering about
strangers lives and thinking about stories they might have. Everyone has a
story to tell.
Anyway, so I’m here dog sitting, and decided I should write
a tribute to my baby boy since his birthday is tomorrow! He will be eight years
old. (oh god another clock just started chiming…) I have about a thousand baby
pictures of Riko….but unfortunately they are all in Colorado. Regardless, I
compiled a few- among thousands- of pictures that highlight our time together.
He is the best dog I could have ever asked for!
So... this is the one picture I have on my facebook of Riko as a puppy. (I really need to get my hard drive/ photo album because I have thousand of pictures of him!) This is the day I got to bring him home from Colorado Springs. He shit himself the whole way home and long into the night....I had to take the poor little guy outside at 1 am and clean him off (he freaked out being alone and in a kennel.) Strangely enough...he fell asleep cuddled up next to me and there he stayed.
(Ignore my braces. Holy moly.)
We have had a few good adventures in the snow as well! The other husky here is my friend's dog- they made a pretty good pulling team. And the brownish colored dog is my sweet boy Baloo ( he passed away several years ago now, but he used to love come with on our snowy excursions. He wasn't thrilled about Riko coming home with me and taking my attention, but soon he accepted him as any grandfather is forced to.
Riko was a big brother to a few pups as well (the chocolate lab was my friends puppy. Back in the day!)
He has shared the home to all of my animal projects- including everybody I have ever dog-sat for since I was 15 years old, as well as all of my friend's dogs, service dogs I started training, and he often came with to dog kennels that I worked at. (So many dogs. Is it obvious they have been a huge part of my life for ever?)
This fuzzy critter is named Krazy, who was Riko's friend for a good part of his childhood!
This is his girlfriend Pebbles. I took care of her for about a month while her owning was trying to find somewhere to live.....he was legitimately in love with her and went through a serious bout of depression when she finally went home.
My mom's rescued dog named Marley. They are still buddies!
He took senior pictures with me.... (including candid shots.)
We have graduated high school together....
We went to college together....(we are driving off to Fort Collins to our first rental house. In my first car....
We adopted a couple more siblings at some point....
And we bought our first house that had a huge open space to run and play in!
He helped me get married and was my sanity through the wedding day.... and also took a massive poop in the guest house during the reception. Typical.
We have had some fabulous hiking trips and made lots of friends....
And now we live in Hawaii and spend time at the dog beach!!
Happy Birthday Baby Boy! We have had an eventful 8 years and I'm positive we have many more memories to make and adventures to have!
