Life has been really busy. Lots of dogs. We had two different visits from Molly. Here's a picture of the young girl after a bath. Walking with her and Lucy elicited many comments from people: Is that her (Lucy's) puppy? Are they related? They look like two bookends!
Lucy initiated some play with Molly, but usually it was the other way around. Lucy would stand still while Molly ran around her. Periodically Lucy would lunge and Molly thought that was fantastic. Lucy was very tolerant of the puppy antics. There was, however, a fair amount of consistent warning growls which Molly chose to ignore for the most part. Molly would nip at Lucy's lips, her tail, jump in her face, run at her while Lucy was sleeping... It wasn't until Lucy nipped that Molly understood she'd overstepped her bounds.
Molly wasn't completely housebroken at the time she was with us, so we had to watch her carefully. Two mishaps occurred and that ended her freedom. Luckily she seemed happy with access from the kitchen to the yard.
As soon as Molly left, Suki came. We were supposed to have her for two weeks, but the other folks caring for her were nice enough to keep her another week for a total of three. This greatly alleviated the stress between the two dogs. As it was, Suki's owners came home early, so she was with us only five days.
Suki chose to pee in the basement in the same area Molly did. I don't know if it was the smell (though the spot had been thoroughly cleaned), the fallout from being without her 'pack' and moved between homes, her brain tumor, the meds she must take, or all of the above. I couldn't shame her, but that also ended her access. It was funny, because she has never wanted to go downstairs into the basement before and she was all over it when she first arrived. When I allowed her down, I realized something was up and went down to check. Of course, that's when I caught her in the act!
Now, being down to one dog, I can say the dog sitting wasn't as difficult as I anticipated, but reality says it wasn't a cake walk either. The puppy had to be monitored constantly. What was in her mouth? (Like a toddler, everything was ingested.) What was she up to, was she bothering Lucy, where was she? And with Suki, because of her slowing down, it was easier to take the dogs on separate walks, so I'd walk one then the other twice a day. It wasn't bothersome, but it was time consuming. Lucy walks way too quickly for Suki, and Suki is way too slow for Lucy. It was easier to let Suki amble and sniff on her own.
Luckily the carpets were cleaned yesterday, so the house is sparkling. It feels good to just be one-dogged!
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