Home Alone

Technology is a huge pain in the ass.

There, I said it. Our modern ability to do nearly anything with technology belies the complexity that accomplishment imposes. "Alexa, turn on the master bedroom light." A voice - "OK." The light goes on. Amazing. I didn't have to walk across a small room in our small house and actually turn a switch.

But, okay maybe that's a bad example. We have an alarm system which... Come to think of it, illustrates what this blog is actually all about.

One of our porties - I'm not naming any names - freaks out whenever she (oops, there I go) hears a beeping sound. Low battery in the smoke detector, disarming the alarm system, autopilot disengaged warning on a YouTube video... Funny, she doesn't mind the microwave when we're nuking her dinner.

So we take every precaution to make sure nothing beeps. She's older, so we lift her up in bed even though there is a step stool. Yeah, we care about our dogs. And, cat. We care about our cat, too.

Where am I going with this? We travel. We like to take a couple trips a year away from home - sometimes many more. We don't always take the dogs. In point of fact we don't often take the dogs. Much as our household is pet-centric I'm not sure how well Jed would do at a resort in Mexico crawling with lizards, monkeys peering in the balcony slider.

So, over the years we've left them in a variety of situations. Friends and family, sometimes (which the dogs prefer). Commercial kennels other times. They've always been well cared for, reluctant to be dropped off, happy to be picked up. Well, ecstatic to be picked up is more like it. Never the worse for wear, though.

And then, the dreaded remotely-monitored TV.

A friend suggested a new kennel, it was fantastic during the walk through - everything we wanted. They were wonderful people, the place was clean... We'd found the perfect place for our male.

Then, we got to watch him in his kennel. Lonely, penned up. Wagging his tail intently whenever someone walked by, crestfallen when they didn't do loves all over him. He wasn't special, he wasn't cherished.

Nothing about this place was any different than the fifteen other kennels our dogs have stayed in over the years. In fact, it was nicer than most. It was just...the first time we'd gotten to see our dog in a kennel pen. When our friend and family network was unavailable for our February trip, we looked for alternatives.

So we interviewed Cassidy, whom we found on line. She runs a house sitting service - Housewolf Petcare LLC. She comes to the house in the early evening and gives the dogs dinner. Stays overnight. Feeds them in the morning. We called our favorite dog walkers (Dog Walking Pals) to resume the noon walks we'd done for five years while Jim had a (for the most part) office job. Lined up the food at home, lined up the treats...

We got daily pictures from both Cassidy and the various dog walkers. The kids were happy, the kids were comfortable at home. They could be themselves (to the point, Cassidy remarked, that some of their bad-dog habits manifested themselves).

And we could relax. In several foreign countries. On a cruise. During the corona virus outbreak.

At least the dogs...and cat. Can't forget the cat. At least the dogs and cat were comfortable and happy. When we got home they stared at us.

"Oh, you're back." And, they returned to bed.

Obviously, Cassidy took excellent care of them. They were home and comfortable. Their routine was hardly disturbed at all. So, when we set up a trip to the DR this fall...

Housewolf Petcare