Poodles

So, here I am locked up with two madly barking poodles for a week.

Obviously, I'm house sitting. Romeo is a standard poodle, and Bucky is a toy. At least they don't have sissy haircuts -- I don't know if I could handle that! They're really sweet dogs -- until they see a neighbor. Then they go crazy. I wish there were no windows.... But then, they'd probably want me to entertain them.

I poodle-sat these two once before, last month. The lady of the house called my house looking for me for this time, and told my mother that she was glad the dogs liked me so much and I was so good with them. Of course, my mother promptly told her that I kill animals. Well, ours seem to like her...

I can't blame her too much. It's true. My first experience was with a kitten. I must have been about 5 or 6, so I really wasn't responsible. I locked the poor kitty up in an old clothes-washing-detergent 3 gallon bucket, and it asphyxiated. I didn't know what had happened, and I was quite shocked when I realized it was dead.

A few years later I was doing an experiment with mealworms, and similarly left the lid closed for too long.

The next really traumatic time was when I was about 14 or 15. I had two little baby goats, or kids. I was putting them out on lines to eat the grass, and I let them sample some clippings that were lying on the ground. Fatally, they were boughs from a Japanese yew. Deadly nightshade family. They were both dead after a next day and evening. Since then I must have been more careful, because I haven't killed anything else. Or maybe my mother just doesn't trust me anymore.

I'm really not that great with plants either. This last year I've been trying for the third or so'th time to keep a pot alive for more than a month. I've only succeeded thus far because I've been away from home so much that my mom's been looking after it. Oh, well.

My grandfather, mother, and brother all have extremely green thumbs. I got skipped, somehow. I don't especially care for dirt or sweat. I can get along with them, I just won't go out of my way to get there.

I did eventually, successfully, keep 11 goats at once, and milk 3 for a year or two. I've since sold most of them and given the others to my sister. Agriculture doesn't pay very well around here unless you're a big operation -- or at least a teeny tiny bit dedicated!

So far I haven't killed any pets I've house sat, but I did once leave a whatsit in its little rolly ball thingy for a whole day. Whatsit...I can't remember what it was called. Some sort of little rodent thing with really soft fur and a bottlebrush tail...Aha! Chinchilla. That's what it was.

I really do like to house sit other people's pets. I get the benefit of having a pet for a few days, but don't have to work for it for their whole lives. Luckily for me, animals seem to like me. Poor, deceived little beggars.