Getting my life back....

(Pretty Otja Face)


(This is one of the pictures I used to make the LOST DOG poster)


(Otja in her jacket, it's been cold in the mornings)


(Otja and Scout at the dog park)


(Another of Otja and Scout at the dog park)

It's been a crazy week. Last Wednesday my friend Janet dropped her dog Otja (Ridgeback, 2 years old) off at my house for a week long stay. Janet and her husband Jason are going to be out of the country for 3 weeks, and I had the first week with Otja. Janet is wise to of broken up Otja's stay into 3 separate weeks with 3 separate families. At first I thought, well I could probably keep her the whole time, but then looked at when they would be gone and the timing was bad. I could only keep her the first week.

A week with Otja has been enough. Don't get me wrong she's a sweet dog and I would PROBABLY dog sit for her again. However I'm ready for her to move on to the next house where they may have a little more patience with her (at least at first). On Wednesday when she got to our house Scout thought it was the best thing EVER! He and Otja played and played, and had a good first little bit. When Janet left Otja looked around for her Mom a couple of times and kept checking the door to see if she was coming back. Finally she started to settle down, and I went in to work for half a day. Thursday I worked a full day, but decided to crate Otja since she thought it would be fun to bring me my Pilate's DVDs (yep with her mouth). She went in the crate with only a little reluctance and was happy to have treats. Scout was happy to have treats outside the crate. Got home Thursday night and she was like a wild thing that had been caged for years. SOOOOO MUCH ENERGY!! The walk was hard, lot's of pulling and tugging but we made it through everything. Friday I was home. So the morning we did a walk, and then we hung out for most of the morning and afternoon. I couldn't really get anything done because Otja is a Velcro dog, she sticks right by you, gets under your feet and has to know every little thing your doing. Not easy to work on cards, or scrap-booking, or even cleaning. Then I went out to Holly Springs (a 45 minute drive) to take care of another friends dogs (they just needed to be fed and let out for a bit). I came back home and took the pups for a good walk. I then left to go to a friends house for a girls night of paper crafting. About 30 minutes after I got to my friends house I got a phone call from my husband letting me know that Otja had gotten out of the house. I immediately came home and we searched for her in the dark for 3 hours to no avail. Twenty minutes after we stopped looking for her she came back to the house. I'm pretty sure she was playing a game the whole night, and came back when she figured no one else was playing. Saturday I took the pups out for a walk, and then was lazy around the house, then took the pups out again, Otja was pretty worn out from her fun adventure the night before. On Sunday I took the pups out and then did a 10 mile run (the last 10 of Kim and Chris's 20 mile run). Jason came out and ran too, he did about 8 miles. We all went and got a burrito afterwards and then came home. Otja had regained her energy and was up to full strength. Man she really likes to play, to bad Scout doesn't always want to play with her. Monday morning I had to crate Otja again, and Scout was not happy about it. I think he's frustrated that we keep using his "special" area to keep the crazy one. (that is said with loving terms). Tuesday the same just add that she smacked me in the face with her head and it is still very tender. Now it's Wednesday and Otja gets to go to her next house. I am literally counting down the minutes until I load her up and take her to the next house. Is that bad? It probably is. I love that sweet, nut case of a dog, but I'm so ready to have my life back. I haven't been able to really do any kind of training (except my 10 mile run) because she just slam wears me out!

My hope is that after I drop her off I'll be able to pop that Pilate's DVD in the player and at least get some core training done tonight, maybe even a run (but I doubt it, since they got me up so early this morning and I haven't been able to rest yet).