Puppy Love

We are pet-sitting this cute little thing for the next 8 days.  

Yep, I know what you're thinking...we're not exactly pet people around here.  But our sweet friends in Carrolton were going on a trip and they needed a place for Phoebe to stay.  So we said yes.  Isn't she adorable?

Phoebe is an older dog who lives with an older couple, so she's pretty quiet and calm.  She doesn't bark (except once at the mailman.)  She's house trained and kennel trained.  She doesn't do stairs.  So, this is a pretty easy pet-sitting experience for sure.

After having her for two days there are still a lot of reasons I wouldn't want a dog of our own.    

1.  I'm not crazy about having to give her medicine (disguised in peanut butter that she has to lick off someone's finger...ew...)  
2.  I don't love that she's afraid of stairs so when I'm alone in the house (and trying to write a blog post) she sits at the bottom and whines until I come down and get her.  
3.  I don't love that a little blue bag has to accompany her on a walk and that it comes home  filled with something that isn't delightful...EW!  (Fortunately the kids are so excited about walking her that they don't really care about the little blue bags.)
4.  And a super sniffer (like mine) isn't really compatible with things that smell (like dogs...and peanut butter...and blue bags.)


But...

The one thing I have totally loved, and the thing that makes this all worth it, is watching June take care of this little nervous, furry thing who has been temporarily displaced.  She has happily assigned herself to be Phoebe's mom for the week.  She wakes up early to take her outside.  She cleaned her room so that Phoebe wouldn't eat anything and choke on it.  (This is the girl who opted NOT to have the extra $2 a week for maintaining a clean room everyday, and instead settles for the regular $5/week rate to deep clean on Saturday only.)  She made up a little bed so that Phoebe wouldn't have to sleep in her kennel at night.   She hand fed her on the first night because we accidentally used a metal dog dish before we realized that Phoebe is afraid of the sound her tags make when they hit the side of it.  

To see one of your children nurture and care for a thing (when they typically don't have a lot of opportunity to do that) is an extremely satisfying experience. There is so much "teenagerness" around here, that I'm sometimes skeptical that these children will ever become functional, responsible, kind, unselfish parents and spouses.  (You would be shocked if I told you how long some of them would go without a shower if I let them!)

Seeing my little June blossom into a dog whisperer made me, just for a second, consider the possibility of getting a her a dog of her own.   

But then the blue bags and peanut butter brought me back to my senses!  Whew!!