Shadow Tales

As I posted earlier, we have been doing some work on our house.  About three or four days before the floor was to be refinished, we realized we really needed to ship Shadow out for the duration.  We contacted a friend of ours from church whose daughter has a pet-sitting business, and had watched Shadow once before a couple years ago.  She was willing and excited to have him, and her mother and father are very generous people and agreed to let Shadow move in temporarily.

The pet-sitter and family have moved since she watched him last, so this was a new house to Shadow.  When we brought him in, he darted around, sniffing everything and checking out all the corners.  I can only imagine he was searching for anything that might be a candidate for chewing and ruining later.  I always feel little anxious when we take him somewhere, lest he give in to his naughty desires.  After a few moments, they brought out their cat, which concerned me even more (would Shadow attack the cat? would he growl and be fierce?).  The pet-sitting mom seemed quite chill as the two chased each other around the house. "They're just playing", she said.  I continued to hope that Shadow would behave himself.

I began giving the family some info about Shadow puppy, including, but not limited to, things like: don't leave any small items on the floor, or he will chew them up; and also, don't leave food near the edge of the counter, or he will help himself to a snack.  Whilst I was doing this, Shadow was exploring the house, moving quickly around us.  Suddenly one of my kids yelled, "Shadow pooped! Shadow pooped!" I immediately whipped my head around, and discovered that he had indeed pooped on the carpet.  I was mortified and shocked, as he has only very rarely done that, and it hasn't happened for years.  I was also amazed as his speed! He was moving at a rapid rate -- he had no time to make the traditional doggie pooping tripod.  "It was a drive-by pooping!", I said, horrified.  The pet-sitting mamma handled it beautifully and assured me that it was okay.  When I left a few minutes later, I begged her to let me know if he was naughty and we would come to get him stat.

I checked in regularly, and apparently he was at his worst when making his first impression (classy, Shads), and has behaved well enough the rest of his visit.  I am greatly relieved, and very thankful for a family who was willing to help us out.

It was a lot easier having Shadow out of the house (though we bought a hedgehog while he was gone - are we lunatics?), but I gotta say I missed having him around. He's home now and settling back in, though his meet and greet with the hedgehog was rather comical (more on that later).