Babysitting Flashy

I wake up after falling asleep on the couch alone…and discover I have company!

Okay, so I think I am mainly hired to look after the 3 little (under 5) tots whilst their parents are out on evenings, but since they mostly fall asleep early on…my main companion at these times is Mr Orange Dog. And, no offence to his handsomeness, sometimes I would vie for the bubbas! They do have quite a bit in common– they have hissy fits, misbehave, have messes that need to be cleaned up, and they fart! But Flash by far does a lot more of the farting, which is to his detriment. But other times there is no one I would rather spend time with.

Reason one: he does what he’s told. I tell him to go to bed; there’s no in-depth discussion as to why he never, ever needs to sleep, or what the names of the monsters in the closet are. He goes to bed. Unfortunately, once I fall asleep, he does tend to come back…and sleep on the couch…often squashing me! But perhaps he merely thought I was getting chilly and so, being the compassionate being he is, is helping with that issue.

Tom and Flashy having a snoring contest

Reason two; he’s incredibly entertaining. One such time is when Tom (who was visiting whilst I was babysitting) fell asleep on the couch and then Flash decided that was an awesome idea. The both of them, who don’t tend to snore, proceeded to do so at great volume! Flash is also very talkative; if you ask him questions he will ‘talk’ back with a humming/howling/mooing noise, which you can then imitate, which frustrates him to no end! He’s got tricks too; his favorite tends to be the ‘hypnotizing’ gaze that he usually employs which will convince any human to give him food… the drool is an unfortunate side effect!

 

Can I please have your food…can I please have your food…can I please have your food…

Reason three; hes cuddly! Loves to snuggle up whilst watching tv. 🙂 What more reasons do you need to spend time with this fellow?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking with a FlashMan

Hi Everybody!

As the title suggests, this post involves walking. I have been trying to get back into shape recently because apparently things like eating do not count as exercise. One of the things I do often is walk a dog named Nudge who is insanely cute and I love him but he recently moved to a house that’s 20 mins walking distance from mine and so I am not walking him as much as I used to.

Soooo I was looking out for other dog owners in the area whose owners wanted me to walk them and soon found two others– Charlie, who is a West Highland Terrier living at the other end of my street and Sooty, who is the same flavour of dog as Nudge except black. Problems arose with each– Charlie, true to his Terrier-ness and general demeanor of independence is an incredibly slow walker and loves stopping every 20 seconds…and it doesn’t make any difference if you tell him off. Stubborn little thing. Not ideal. Sooty, on the other hand, seemed perfect for what I wanted- an active dog to spend an hour or so each day with who could get me moving more often. However he belongs to my Mum’s best friend and Mum had also been looking for a dog to walk so Mum gets to walk him the most.

Flashman 🙂

Then an opportunity literally fell in my lap– my next door neighbours, who have the most gorgeous long legged orange hound, asked me to help walk their dog for a few days whilst they were out of town. HEAVEN! They paid me for it, Flashman (the dog) was an absolute dream, so good on and off the leash and just great to spend time with. Together we investigated the waterfront, my favourite walking places, parks…it was a breeze. Flashy is such a happy dog and also has the most hilarious little humming-type howl/growl to talk to people with.

So I asked them a few days later if I could just come and walk him whenever (he does get an hour walk every day anyways but is very fit/energetic) and they said YES! I don’t want to get paid because that would ‘limit’ my time with him because it gets awkward because I think ‘I want to walk this dog’ but at the same time its not a good deal for the owner if the dog doesn’t actually need to be walked so I end up with not getting as much walks as I would otherwise. Plus these guys are super nice to me and give me plenty of work with babysitting anyways. So I have unrestricted access to a dog that literally lives outside my bedroom window! For someone who can’t get their own dog until they move out,

Reclining on the couch

this is the next best thing :). Of course, I will still walk Nudge once or twice a week (would miss that crazy thing otherwise), but this gives me an option that is a lot more convenient to fit into my day which is brilliant, particularly with uni starting up in 3 days.

Living the dream here,

MissyJ

P.S. If anyone can tell me what kind of breed they think Flash is, that would be awesome. I know he’s purebred, but forget what kind of breed and I would really love to know because he is so beautiful and has a great temperament.

The Terrible Two & Other Furry Furies

Hey everyone, sorry for posting twice in a day, but if I’m going to introduce the hens I thought the cats better not miss out! So listen to me go for a bit of a blab about my loved ones, or just take a look at the cute animal pix, up to you XD

Max & Stella

Max 🙂

Stella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Max and Stella are our beautiful Burmese duo. Max is adventurous, friendly and nosy, he is known around the neighbourhood as ‘that damn cat that won’t stop coming into my house’. Stella is homebound– you rarely find her outside the house or gardens. Shes shy, but loves those who feed her, is a perfect swap for a teddy

Max swimming around the boat

bear and occasionally goes batshit crazy when she gets bored, bouncing off walls and up curtains. We take them on holiday with us– sailing, up to the beach… Max in particular loves the boat. Occasionally though, he will accidentally fall over the side and go for a wee dip in the water.

By the way, if you are wondering how the cats and hens get along with each other— they get along just great! The cats are terrified of the hens, and the hens developed the ‘circle the enemy and peck’ strategy early on. So far, works well for the other neighbourhood cats (and rats :/) as well.

 

Stella playing hide and seek 🙂

He’s a bit of a basket case really

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other precious animals that I see often but are not mine–

Nudge

Nudge 🙂

Hes the hyperactive, bouncing, sunshiney poodle cross who I’ve been walking regularly for years. A friend once said that his own dog was the craziest, most energetic, friendly dog he had ever met. Then he met Nudge! My main reason for knowing Nudge–my Dad doesn’t like dogs, so we can’t own one…so I substitute for not having one by borrowing Nudge as much as possible! Also he’s an awesome running buddy 🙂

Rolling in the grass XD

Nudge racing his mates at the park

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dusky

Dusky

She’s the incredibly fat ex-breeding mama Burmese who belongs to my Grandma. We got her when she was 6, just after she retired from her last litter of kittens. She was already round when we got her, and has sustained her shape for the past 5 years despite diets, exercise regimes and having a mostly outdoor lifestyle until recently. She loves people, and spends most of her day trailing after Grandma or whomever else is around asking for hugs.

 

 

Hugs? 🙂