hi peeples,
snickers here!
it has been awhile since i dictated a post for the blog (although i am always talking away over on twitter). i asked my tweeps recently what i should blog about and friend-to-all-nyc-shibas, @roxyturtle, asked "what do you do while Mom is gone for the day? Does your Mom do anything to give you activities while you’re a latchkey dog?"
i can say that in my five short years i have spent my days in many many ways! here is the bulleted version (because i dont really dictate in full sentences anyway, much less paragraphs).
- when i came to live with mom and girl, i was only 9 or 10 weeks old. mom worked 9am to 5pm back then. for the first couple months, she walked home at lunch to play with me and walk me
- i had lots of energy and wanted to chew EVERYTHING, so mom started taking me to doggy daycare three days a week. this helped me a lot in being a good boy at home!
- as i got older, mom tapered off the daycare time, but then i got a dog walker who came to spend time with me every day! i haz had the best dog walkers – first bernard and then trent
- all the time from puppyhood till now mom tries to take me for long walkies in the morning before she leaves me. this is very important because then i am happy and ready for a nap when she goes!!!
- mom and girl adopted my sister secret and then i had company at home ALL THE TIME. i cannot recommend this more highly. all you doggies convince your peeples to get you a doggy pal. really! go do it right now
- mom tapered the dog walking down to a couple days a week after secret came. (she says something about daycare and dog walkers being ‘spensive if you do it too much… i dunno about that)
- my sister secret moved to florida for a year and i was back to being alone all day, so moms started taking me to daycare again when trent wasnt coming over
- then we started fostering for NYC Shiba Rescue! that was the best cz it meant i had a pal at home again. trent still came two days a week, but no daycare for me when i had a foster girl to watch over
- then the best thing ever happened… mom quit her job and we moved to indiana. not only was she home all day but sis and girl came there from florida so we were all together again. i spent my days lounging around with mom and sis, playing in the big back yard, and then we got foster pup murphy to play with too! having mom home all the time was really pretty great
- but then me and mom moved back to east. i am very happy to be home again, but the worst thing happened when we first got here. moms new job is ten hours a day and she left me all alone all day. sis wasnt here. no daycare. no dog walker. (cz we are in a new town.) i was so sad. when mom would come home from work, i would FREAK OUT so she would know how much i missed her and how lonelies i was all day. i was a very good boy though. i did not chew anything or do anything i shouldnt
- luckily sis and girl got here a few weeks later so then i got to spend all my day with sis and girl while mom worked. yay!
but, wouldnt you know it, now girl is gone for the summer! mom and girl were really looking out for me and sis though. normally sis goes everywhere with girl, but this year sis stayed here with me and mom. mom is gone to work 10 hours per day but i have sis here and we keep each other company- mom knows leaving us here alone all day is not the greatest but i am five years old now and sis is almost nine so we are good dogs and able to hang out without getting in any trouble
so, what you think? i think girl needs to come home from summer fun soon so me and sis have more company and get our afternoon walkies back! i have mostly been good but friday i did something funny to make mom laugh and show her i dont just lie around all day. i buried my toy duck in her bed. i used to do stuff like that a lot when i was younger. funny, right?
so, mostly i play with toys, nap, shed on the couch, chew the bones that mom leaves for me, and play with my sister when i am home alone. that is how i spend my day @roxyturtle!
mom wants me to add from her the following:
- A tired dog is a good dog, especially when they are young. Don’t leave your dog at home alone without vigorous physical and mental exercise first!
- Bored dogs get into trouble. That’s your fault, not theirs! Give them toys. Break up the day with a dog walker! Spring for doggy daycare once or twice a week. Get your dog a friend!
Hey Snicks, My mom kept laughing so I sat and glared at her, with my “need to know Shiba eyes”, until she shared your story with me. Well, now I know, the grass isn’t greener. My mom has “always” been home 24/7 with me since I joined the pack, and many days I’ve wondered what it would be like to not have her around. Not that I want her to “get a job”, but sometimes all I want to do is rest. Does she stay in one place so I can relax? No!! She’s here, over there, then in another room, downstairs, in the garage, how is a girl suppose to get her beauty sleep? When I was young and full of beans, and my brother was here, it was a good thing she was home. But now I’m a mature, older Shiba and thought she didn’t need to be here “all” of the time. After hearing about your days, I think my grass “is” greener than I realized, and I’m lucky to have a mom who can be home with me. I had a bit of a rough start in life, a few homes before I found people who loved me for me, opening their hearts and home, helping me unpack all of my baggage. Having a home with someone who cares is what really matters, and since “money doesn’t grow on trees” (I learned that one from my daddy), time away at work is what buys the treats. You and your sis are very lucky Shibas, you are loved!!
thanks for commenting snappy! you are definitely lucky to have your mom at home all the time. i hope there will be another time in my life when mom is home a lot. for now, i make the most of the time i have with her and i know she loves me as much as i love her. ^-,-^
Oh, I loved this story 🙂