10 Things a Dog Sitter Should Know About My Dog
My dad is my default dog sitter and he’s always been great at it. But if I ever have to hire someone else there’s some quirks and habits of Laika’s that I’d like them to know about beforehand.
So if you ever find yourself dog sitting for me here’s a list that I meant to give you but probably forgot.
What a Dog Sitter Should Know About My Dog
1. She’s afraid of her own farts. Every single time Laika farts it startles her. She jumps up, sniffs her own butt, cries and looks confused for a minute. One would think after 3 years she might realize that it’s no big deal but that has not happened yet. She’ll be fine and will eventually settle right back into whatever she was doing before.
2. She might “lie” about having to go outside. If you happen to miss one of her scheduled walks, designated play times, or if she just thinks you’re not paying enough attention to her she’ll whine at the door. Learning the difference between her “I gotta go pee” and “I’m bored” whine takes practice.
3. Once she’s found a human bed she aint leaving. You don’t have to let Laika on your furniture; she’ll be fine. But if you do I must warn you – if she finds a nice cozy bed to lay on she’ll play dead when you ask her to leave or get down. If you go to reach for her to get her down she will run to the other side of the bed in protest – this will go on for hours.
4. She will pester your house guests for attention. Although she’s been trained to be polite to people entering her behavior after they’re settled in can be described as “relentless.” She will nudge their hands, bring them toys, and whine if they dare look at her without petting. You can ask her to go lay down and she will; but as soon as you look away she’ll start again.
5. She falls asleep sitting up all the time. Like a cranky toddler that says “I’m not tired” when asked if they want to take a nap my dog doesn’t seem to like giving in to sleepiness. She will fall asleep sitting up in chairs, sitting up on the couch, or leaning on a window.
6. She won’t eat until you’ve finished your meal. I wouldn’t bother putting her food down until you’ve eaten – she won’t touch it. She will wait nearby staring at you while you eat – it’s something she continues to do even though it’s been over a year since she’s “won” this game and gotten a table scrap. And yes I regret giving her that scrap every single day.
7. She has about 728 vocalizations so don’t be alarmed. You know those people that yawn and sneeze loudly? Laika is like those people. Nothing she does is quiet; she whines if you stop petting her, she howls in her sleep, she playfully growls when shoving a toy into your hand, and her yawns are never silent.
8. She enjoys being pet pretty much everywhere, but please don’t touch her tail. You can pet her anywhere except her tail; if you touch her tail she will immediately leap up and chase it.
9. She will run towards any mud puddles you pass. She’s generally pretty good on the leash but if she spots a body of water or mud that’s nearby expect to be pulled towards it. Whatever you do don’t try and quickly walk over them either – she is a pro at the stop, drop, and roll method.
10. She loves being hosed off. In case she happens to leap into any mud puddles or ponds (see #9) she doesn’t mind being hosed off – in fact she loves it. Be careful with your phrasing though. If you ask her if she’d like to “take a bath” she will sulk, so remember to ask “do you want the hose” to keep those spirits high.
What do you think a dog sitter should know about your dog?
I can’t help but think of Silence of the Lambs with “do you want the hose!” Love all of Laika’s quirks.
Now I’ll be sure to say it in a really creepy voice each time lol
I don’t know what it is with dogs and farts. I’e known several dogs that react the same way when they fart. Chester has done it. What is funnier is that sometimes when WE fart he takes off like a shot off the couch and then starts licking his butt like he thought he did it (gross, I know, but reality). Ha, ha.
None of my dogs before Laika had an issue with it; and I figured after a few years she’d perhaps start to understand that it’s not so scary but that’s not the case yet. Dogs are weird.
First, have to say that Laika’s ears are the most awesome I’ve ever seen. Second, you know your dog so well…if anyone else besides your Dad ever pet-sits her, they will be in great hands! Was LOL’ing at the fart story… our dog Spencer didn’t care about farts, but whenever anyone burped in his presence, he jumped up, ran over acting incredibly concerned, and stared at us intently for like 5 minutes to make sure we were okay! Made us laugh every time.
Why burps of all things? Dogs pick up on the strangest things.
I have no idea! It’s not like we were super-loud…?!
That is an endearing list of particulars! My guys and the farts, too. So funny. I think my list to a dog sitter would run the length of a book, but toward the top… Emmett doesn’t like to be without people, so if you let him out and don’t go with him, he won’t “go.” He’ll stand at the door and wait for you. Also, if you sing, Lucas will howl. Don’t be offended. He’s not judging your voice. He just loves to accompany musicians.
Don’t you just love the howling? Laika is my first dog I’ve had that howls and although it seems a bit off key I love it. She doesn’t join in when we’re singing though – that would be real fun. (though I’m not sure the neighbors would love it – I can hear Laika inside when she’s howling all the way down to our mailbox)
Oh Laika!! LOL!! 😀 This is such a funny and awesome post!
Laika is such a character! She sounds like a wonderful girl. It’s funny that she refuses to leave human beds. For my kitties, the sitter would have to know that they will never see Cinco. He will come out and eat after they leave. Manna on the other hand will follow you around and tell you what to do and how to do it the entire time. 🙂
Haley does the same thing when she farts. Last year we left Haley with my parents for a week and I gave them a list of things they should know. I tried to keep it short but there are a lot of little things that are good to know when petsitting. I love Laika’s little quirks! 🙂
She sounds like she would be fun to watch. 🙂
What a cute post! She’s a doll anyway, and reading about Laika’s little idiosyncrasies just makes her even more adorable! I’ll bet she’s just a hoot to live with! 🙂
HAHAHA could not stop laughing about the farts. We have a lot of dog-farts in our house. The pug farts are the worst! Laika reminds me of our Jack Russell – he used to sniff is own butt after the fart to savor the moment. Super fun post!!
I’ve heard Pug farts are pretty bad – those and Greyhound ones apparently 🙂
Oh my goodness, she sounds hilarious and adorable! She reminds me of other dogs I’ve known and loved. I imagine and sitter would be thrilled to hang around with her. Thanks for sharing your list!
I hope you’ll remember to tell them about this post! It contains valuable information!
Oh my gosh, this post made me laugh. I can’t think of them all at the moment but here’s one for each.
For Sampson it would be similar to Laika, he wants attention, he will pester you until he gets it and he will pester you again as soon as you stop.
For Delilah it will be she doesn’t like you moving your feet near her, especially once you’ve settled in for the night. She gets downright indignant when you do. She will growl and sometimes she will jump off the bed, so far she has never snapped but we know for sure it will tick her off.
I would have never guessed the feet/Delilah thing – such a random quirk. Dogs are so strange lol.
What a great list! Luna is totally the same as Laika for #7 though the complete opposite for #6. Now I want to write up something like this for Luna!
Do it – it’s fun to share our dogs quirks and I love reading them 🙂
One of our dogs gets the most unbearable farts after getting hold of marine life when we go to the beach. It’s so bad that he’s been known to put the window down by himself and put his butt out to get away from the smell. Can you imagine what he’d be able to do of he had opposable thumbs??
What an adorable list! And an entertaining way to share Laika :-> I tell my sitters that if they insist on greeting Zack excitedly then a pee-stream will slash across their ankles (and to please greet outside if an energetic greeting is too hard to resist.)
Growing up our Lab did the pee stream thing lol.