So, Wednesday started off with minor adventure.
I forgot to take Ruby for a quick pee before our car ride home. Jonathan said she goes every 3 hours or so; however, nervous doggies need to go every hour or so. But she was a trooper and pee'd on the garage floor, not in the car. I was impressed.
I thought that if that was as bad as it was going to get, we'd be in good shape.
Once at home and in the rush of excitement of kids met dog, dog meet kids, kids demand dinner, mom supplies dinner, cats freak out, mom despairs with the noise and mayhem (the usual dinner time commotion), I forgot to tell Ellie and Erin that while the cats can be let in and out of the back yard, dogs need to go with someone (we have no fence). So when I suddenly looked up wildly from my dinner-making frenzy to ask where Ruby was, I nearly fainted when Ellie said "Oh, she's outside - I let her out because she wanted to go". Note we have no fence.
We'd only had her 2 hours and she was already off wandering goodness knows where, having a ball, never ever to be seen again. What was I going to tell Jonathan's kids? I teleported outside to find Ruby standing on the deck staring intently at the hugest deer I'd ever seen in our backyard (who was staring hard at her) and my heart stood still. My mental image at that very moment - Ruby disappearing off like a streak into the distance pursuing a ton of galloping mayhem (or vice versa - it was one mean looking deer.) Why me!
So thank goodness for a dangling leash to step on is all I can say... Disaster averted.
Then Ruby ate a blue crayon that one of the girls had dropped on the floor and ran off with Efelant - Erin's most favorite cuddly elephant.
That was in hour 1.
I was worn out.
But things got better from there and Ruby was a delight to have in the house, even if in that third-child-with-wheels way.
We introduced Ruby to our local river (a great way to tire out a Goldendoodle puppy, I must say) and we kept the Embrace staff on their toes with puppy potty runs (so many volunteers, it was great!). I practised my frisbie and soccer skills and Ruby behaved herself as best a 3.5 month puppy can - in fact, better than I expected.
All in all, a success of a puppy-sitting weekend.
One last story to round out the fun. On Sunday, we took Ruby and the girls to a local pond (to wear out the puppy - again!) and in a momentary lapse in attention of leash length on my part, Ruby bounded up to Ellie at the water's edge and pounced at her, scaring her into falling forward into the mud. The wails began as only a four year old can give forth...
It wouldn't have been so bad if my mothering instinct hadn't kicked in and in rushing over to her, I accidentally allowed Ruby to make a game of it - " let's squeeze some more noise out of this play thing by jumping on her in the water..."
Well,you can just imagine the scene - me soothing Ellie with my mommy-caring noises while holding her at arms length (so much mud!) and desperately trying not to let any form of amusement cross my fact (because once you start, you know you cannot stop). And John laughing in the most discrete way in the background while I tried to palm off Ruby to him.
Anyway, it all turned out fine after I hosed down Ellie back home and soothed her with promises of ice cream and that I wouldn't tell anyone what happened (oops.)
After Ruby had gone home, I asked the girls if they'd like to have a dog in the family and Ellie nodded solemnly "Yes, I'd like a dog. A very small dog." And then she smiled and gave me a hug.
Well, that's a good start I think.
Related Post:
Adventures in puppy-sitting - prelude
