Let me give you a little background first. Last summer Brian Koeller went out of town for a week and left his dogs with Jennifer. These were THEIR dogs before they got divorced. She was just as much their owner for like 12 years!! Anyways, while Brian was out of town and the dogs were in Jen’s care, she made plans to go to the lake for one night (it was 4th of July). She lined up Kasey (our co-worker Kathy’s daughter) to pet sit while she was gone. Kathy was visiting family that lived really close to Jen’s apartment so she also checked in on them for the 24 hours that Jen was gone. In fact, Kathy even ended up going above and beyond and spent the night with the dogs because they were so cute and looked so lonely. The dogs were fine – no drama, nothing happened. Jennifer never mentioned that she had left “the boys” in someone else’s care for one day while he was gone. A few weeks later Cheryl (another one of our friends from work) went out with Brian and just happened to say something about Kathy staying overnight with them and he flipped out. He was SO mad at Jennifer. He couldn’t believe that she would up and leave town for a night while she was supposed to be caring for the dogs. It wasn’t even really about the fact that Kathy watched them or anything – he was just horrified that she would choose to do something else when she already has such limited time with them. (Um sir, it was July 4th!) It was hilarious when it all went down last summer because he was such a crazy weirdo over THEIR dogs. Like Jennifer would have ever let something happen to them. Needless to say, Jen has not been asked to watch the dogs since this all happened. Brian is going out of town in a few weeks and I guess he is desperate because he asked her to watch them. She of course said that she would and then she got this email this morning...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: brian@sbcglobal.net
To: jennifer@sbcglobal.net
Sent: Thu, August 5, 2010 6:44:32 AM
Subject: the boys
It feels like this time I need to have all the bases covered before I leave. I
just have a few questions so I can leave my boys with a clear conscience.
Will anyone else be left alone with the boys? Are you throwing any parties or gatherings where people will be drinking or doing drugs and forget there are small animals around? Are you planning on taking them anywhere other than the yard for play, or (God forbid) an emergency vet? Are you planning on taking time off work to be with them? If not, will they be locked up in a kitchen or confined space for more than 12 hours? You mentioned you have a cat, is he/she declawed? If not, has it ever been around a dog before?
I would like to have you come over early on the morning of the 16th to pick one up and I'll follow behind you with the other. How early can you be over here? I'd like to be on the road by about 6 or 6:30. I should be back in town on the 19th by 8pm. I’ll need you to bring one of them to my place.
Finally, please tell me in advance any other special situations arising that haven't been covered in these questions.
Thanks,
Brian
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I should have also explained that these are the most high maintenance dogs ever!! They flip out and quit breathing if you upset them or crate them. So you have to drive with one on your lap. That’s why they have to take one dog in each car. And like Jen wants to get up and come get them at like 5am Monday morning. Um, no sir…how about Sunday evening? She doesn’t give a crap if you don’t want to spend an extra night away from them! Jen just found the instructions that she made up for Kasey when she was going to pet sit for her last summer. Hilarious!! Thought yall might want to read this too...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Teddy & TJ 101
Objective 1 – Keep them alive
Objective 2 – Direct as much pee as possible to a puppy pad or patio (they don’t go outside to pee because of TJ’s allergies)
If TJ is coughing or having trouble breathing, give him ¼ teaspoon of magic elixir (bottle on the counter) with about 1 teaspoon of tuna. Give Teddy a teaspoon of tuna too (minus magic elixir). I left two small bowls on the counter. Even if TJ seems OK I’d highly recommend giving him a dose before bed so he’ll sleep. He can have a does every 4 hours if necessary.
Teddy will sleep in the bed all night, and probably won’t jump down. He’ll wake up around 5ish and will have to pee. If you pick him up and take him right to a puppy pad, he’ll go pee for you. He’ll expect a treat! They expect a treat every time they pee on the pad. You’ll also want to take them to a pad or the patio as soon as you get there. Treats are on the counter too. Break them in half because they don’t have any teeth and can’t chew very well.
They like to go on the patio, but you don’t need to walk them or anything. TJ can’t really go outside this time of year because of his allergies.
They’ll scratch and cry when they want up in the bed or the couch (even though they have stairs). They’ll run when you try to help them up, so you’ll have to try to grab them with both hands before they run. Drives me crazy!!!
They don’t eat much, but their food is on the counter. When you go to bed just take it with down stairs…sometimes they’ll eat right before they go to sleep.
Now, sorry about this, but sometime during the night/morning they manage to poop everywhere, so watch where you step. No one is really sure how so much poop comes out of their little bodies.
If you have any questions you can call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Jacob’s phone works better in the boonies so his number is XXX-XXX-XXXX
Have fun!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And to end this fabulous post I thought I would include a picture of Brian and "the boys". I really think this picture says it all!
