I'm an awful dogsitter....

Okay...so...I love dogs, right? I've OWNED dogs. Lots of dogs. I have 2 cats! I mean, I KNOW how to take care of an animal, right??? I mean, I've kept Parker for DAYS AT A TIME!!! And he lived! This weekend I was asked to babysit for "Spark." Spark is a white Westhighland Terrier that lives in Arlington. He's Anne's normal client--but since she was already booked, she suggested me! Which was great, b/c Sparks mom pays well. Let's just say I pimped around all weekend living like I made some cash! Nice. Anyway....I hope I enjoyed it, cause poor Spark's mom ain't ever gonna call me again.

We actually had a great weekend, Spark and I. We had alot of fun. We had a GORGEOUS day on Saturday. So Spark and I took lots of long walks. He was happy, I was content. Anne and Michelle came over Saturday nite to cook and watch a movie. I think it was Anne who noticed that Spark was shaking....like he didn't feel good...actually, more like he'd been poisoned. Then, when I went to feed him his dinner, Anne kind of freaked out. You see, his mom left me a note about how to feed him...1/2 cup of dry, put some water on it...microway 15 sec. and add a tablespoon of the ground beef in the fridge. So I did all that. And there was a package of ground beef on the shelf in the fridge.....then Anne freaked out cause I was giving him raw meat. And I'm like, "he's a dog!!! They EAT RAW MEAT!!! RIGHT???" So she looks around in the fridge....there was a tupperware dish that said "Spark"....and it contained, what else, COOKED ground beef. Oops. By Sunday morning he was fine, fyi. The shaking had stopped. But he was doing this yelping thing....Anne says he has a possible pinched nerve. Oiy.

So on Sunday morning, I'm trying to get out of the house and make it to church. On the note Spark's mom left me, it said--and I quote--"at 10, let Spark in the backyard and feel free to leave anytime after that." Now....what does that say to you???? To me, it said, "leave the dog in the backyard and go home." Apparently, to Spark's mom that translates to, "let the very expensive show dog into the backyard to pee one last time, then put him back in the house before you leave." I'll admit, I did have a fleeting thought that it wasn't a good idea to leave him outside...but the note said to! Anway...all in all, I think Spark's mom called me 5 times last nite...once for an explanation about why Spark was outside, once to say she understood since she re-read the note saying to leave him out, once to say she couldn't find the key she had given me, once to say oh she did find the key and thanks.... Luckily, most of our conversations were via voicemail...only the last one did we actually speak. No mention of the raw beef.... Lucky me...I was barely able to recover from the "leaving him in the backyard" incident!