dog sitting.

 I made this little bio about Bird & Hippo's day to day, to help future dog sitters.

Excuse me, Hippo was kind enough to type out his thoughts. So in case you find yourself curious about their needs and wants and loves, here it is. Hippo asked me to share it with everyone.

Our Daily Life

by Hippo

Hello new friends! We’re sad our parents are gone, but I’m sure we’re going to love you so much!

When you first get here… mom and dad usually wake up and let us out between 8 or 9am. We can get up earlier if you need us to. Birdie may be skiddish and run from you at first (she’s a skeptic like that) and possibly even nip at you until she wants to see you herself … but as for me, I already know you’re going to be my BFF. That’s why I will jump on you and hump you. This is how I let you know I AM SO HAPPY YOU’RE HERE! My mudder usually gets REALLY mad at me for this and yells DOWN, or NO JUMPING and spanks me and stuff, but that doesn’t really bother me. I am just too excited to stop! Once Birdie realizes how awesome you are, she will probably pee out of excitement when you first get here, so be sure to pet her in the yard… she usually does this when you first pet her. This happens any time of the day as well, so beware! So be sure to call her outside to greet you and pet her lots outside, to get her tinkles out. I just know this is what mudder & fodder do.

When we get let out in the morning… mom and dad tell us “go potty!” and then go inside and close the door, otherwise we’ll just want to get pet forever. We love getting pet.

Food time is next… When we’re pottying, that’s when mudder usually gets us breakfast (which is usually our whole day’s meal). She scoops 1 heaping scoop for Birdie, and 5 scoops for me! Then we should be done with pottying, and brought back inside. 

Whenever we come back inside, I actually need you to do me a favor… when I poop, I actually need you to wipe my tail for me. I guess it gets dirty under the bottom of my tiny tail nubb. Mom usually asks me “Hippo, you need a wipe?” And I’m usually pretty good at coming to you to let you do it. I’m sorry about this, I would wipe myself if I could. I actually really like it when you do it. I start licking and stuff, because it feels good. I appreciate the help. Mom just doesn’t want poop rubbed in the house when I sit.

Back to the food.... Mom usually asks us “are you hungry!?” and we get pretty excited. She usually sets Birdie’s bowl away from mine by the rug/refrigerator. She likes to sit on the rug when she eats, and to be away from me so I don’t steal her food. And then mudder sets mine by the oven. I’m a good boy and won’t touch it though until you say “OK, go Hippo!” I love my food too much that Mom had to teach me to wait. If our container has run out, they keep the bag of food in the garage by the door. I try to sneak in there to get it, so don’t let me follow you in! Once we start eating, that’s usually when mudder leaves to take the fodder to work. They lock us inside, and don’t come back for a few hours. This is normal for us, so we shouldn’t worry too much if we don’t see you until the afternoon!

When you come back in the middle of the day… We usually just want some love, and a walk if you have the time. If not, just some play time in the yard is fun, too. I REALLY love when you play tug of war, or fetch with me with one of my toys, ESPECIALLY my broom. If you ask me “do you wanna play broom?!” I’ll usually go kinda nuts! I’ll kick your butt at keep away, just you wait.

If we go on a walk… I will pull you the whole way! …I LOVE to try to go faster! Mudder usually tells me “Hippo, no running!” and tugs the leash a bit. Sometimes this makes me want to slow down a little, but most of the time I still just want to GO! And amazingly enough when mom says to “stay” when we get to street corners to wait for cars, I stop. This makes mudder really happy. We usually do a circle around 3 or 4 blocks. Oh, and Birdie usually goes potty when we walk, so mom brings a plastic bag (which I guess she put with our leashes on the shelf. Mine is the leather one, and Bird’s is the black little adjustable one. And, I’m sorry if we see people on our walk. You might have to pull really tight and brace yourself and ask me to keep going, “come on Hippo” because I just want to see them so bad!

When we come back from a walk, or before you leave again in the afternoon… you can leave us outside if the weather is nice. We really love lying in the sun so much, and barking at the squirrels in the trees, and neighbors in the street. Mom gets a little mad at me for barking so much and usually tells me “no barking” if I start to go crazy along the fence, but we should be ok for a few hours until you come back in the night to put us to bed.

Before it gets dark… we need to go inside. Birdie gets cold outside if the sun goes away (unless it was a really hot day, then she’ll probably be fine longer). We probably already went potty by now, so after some more play time, and a bum wipe, we’ll be good to go back inside for the night.

At bedtime… I usually crawl into my cage and sleep there, but might sleep with Bird on the sofa. We might sleep upstairs by the bedroom door, because we’re a little confused where mudder and fodder are, but who knows. Bird usually sleeps with them in their bed (not fair), so she might be the most confused. She’ll probably just fall asleep though under the blankets on the sofa. She wants to stay warm. If you guys have a sleep over, you can close my cage door so I don’t get out, and I’ll sleep just fine. And Bird will want to sleep with you on the bed, under the covers. She likes to be in the middle. (:

And we’ll be happy and ready to see you the next day! Whenever mom leaves she asks us to “go lay down” and points to the sofa for Bird. I usually don’t listen to that garbage. If you want me to not try to leave with you, just ask me to Sit, and Stay. I’m usually pretty good at that. And we know what it means when you tell us “goodbye.”

And that’s usually how our day goes. We like it that way, but if you ever want to take us to the park or anything, we love that, too! The clam shell in the yard is our water dish, and if you don’t mind refilling it (and the dish inside) and watering some of the plants too, I know mudder would love it!

The parents don’t let us in their bedroom or in the bathroom when they’re gone, so they usually keep those doors closed, unless they’re home and using them. We really like to get into their laundry and trash and stuff. It’s so fun, but mom gets so mad! So we’re only allowed to roam the main part of the house.

If we’re ever naughty… or need a timeout, or you need me to be kept away from a kiddo… just put me in my cage. We know the words “that’s bad!” or “bad, Hippo!” and we both know “IN YOUR CAGE!”, although we don’t always go willingly. You can put Birdie in my cage too if she ever needs it, but she usually doesn’t get in trouble, or overwhelming like I do.

If it’s raining… just keep us inside all day after we get let out for potty breaks and on a possible walk. Birdie HATES the rain, so you might have to force her outside by setting her out there. And we’ll both need our paws wiped off before we come back in, since they’ll be muddy (we expect this so we usually don’t put up a fight).

If we need a vet… we’ve never been to one in the area, but if an emergency happens, or you think something is wrong.. Mudder put some coupons to some local places in the paper sorter that’s hung by the front door. I’m sure anywhere would work just great.

If you need to take us anywhere… we know what a car ride is, and if you ask us, “wanna go for a car ride?!” we'll bolt to the car and nearly pee ourselves in excitement!

Thanks for all your help. We're so excited to party with you!

Love,

Hips