Dog Sitting

As a newbee to this whole dog mother thing, I was given a double (Jeopardy) challenge by being asked to dog sit my mom’s dog for a whole month while she visited Korea with my little sister.

I’ve only had Shuggie (aka Shugboogs aka Shugified) for a little less than a month now and I feel like I’m still trying to find the balance/ figure things out with him. He is a good dog for sure and I don’t regret having gotten him even for a second, but a handful he can be sometimes for sure.

Add a neurotic, babied matipoo (Toto aka Totes McGoats) to the mix and you’ll find me squished between the two scared, territorial furry monsters trying to catch some ZZZ’s.

It turns out that Shuggie (a lhasapoo, who is a bit bigger bodied than Toto) is a bit of an alpha bully. Toto, on the other hand is a psycho, level three clinger. He constantly follows me around and wants to be held because he’s scared.

They had met a handful of times before this dog sitting period, but those visits were never smooth either. Shugs would come over to my moms, take over all of Toto’s toys and Toto would basically just avoid eye contact with him the entire time. Or run to my mom for safe shelter. Fast forward to yesterday (Day 1 of dog sitting) and I feel like I am going a bit crazy.

My main problem is that I’m not sure how to help them get along.. though I have instinctively figured that they both just want love. Equal parts of Love, affection, and treats.

While a lot of my frustration revolves around the dogs misbehaving (aka me not knowing how to deal with such situations), I’ve noticed that most of my stressful “issues” are more *selfish* than anything else. I feel like I don’t have time for myself, I feel a bit overstretched, I feel like I’ve lost some freedom.. basically I feel like a new parent who is totally lost and overwhelmed. Moms and dads out there, thank you. And I feel you.

I soon realized..

These dogs are acting as a mirror for me. Through my frustration, they show me how impatient I can be, how not present/ mindless and selfish I can be, and how easy it can be to misplace one’s anger and stress. The dogs have not done a single thing wrong. They are merely primal animals who want and need tender loving care. They are emotional pools of their surroundings and I am merely here to help them feel happiness and peace. And the only way for them to have that, is for me to emit it myself.