Stink-tastic!

No more Yoda ears! Look at those ears standing up tall!! (And look at her with eyes wide open, wide awake!)


And she's eating on her own (i.e. without us shoving food in her face every 10 minutes)!

Hooray! I'm sure she's not completely better, but we'll take this temporary improvement! It appears that her loss of appetite was related to the ear pain. We randomly decided to try the antibiotic ear drops again (that weren't working previously) and it helped!! Thank you to everyone that has been thinking about her.

Little Man Warns of Pet Food Recall

WARNING!

Please go to http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/nutro05_09.html to read about the latest pet food recall. It affects certain Nutro dry cat foods with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010.

Wet Dogs

A couple of weekends ago, a good friend of mine visited and brought her two sweet dachshunds, Gretchen and Zirka. Their poor little bellies got red and irritated from running around in the country grass, so we gave them baths in the kitchen sink with some skin soothing dog shampoo before they left for their ride back home. Poor Gretchen looks like she's horrified at the indignity of it, but I think Zirka looks like she's thinking the water feels good. (Jon, however, says she's giving me "the stink eye.")

Princess Gretchen

Zirka

Thanks for visiting, Gretchen and Zirka!

Skip, Laser and Broc (like Snap, Crackle and Pop? - struggling with the nicknames!)

I tried to record a video of the dudes playing with the laser toy yesterday. It was difficult to do using my left hand so I apologize for the shakiness of it! It's pretty cute if you can ignore that!

The Dudes

"Quit taking pictures and cuddle with me, lady!"


"Whoa! Look at that! Hey,what was that? Ooh, look at that. No there - wait, no there - ooh, over there..."



"I'm the king of the wooorrrlllddd!!"

LeBroc and LeSkip

From last night's visit...

LeBroc sittin' pretty.


Everything is just SO FASCINATING!!

Vanishing Bee Colonies

Perhaps Skip the Beat and The Broctologist (Jon gets credit for this name!) are responsible? They ganged up on this bee this morning! (And during this activity, they were completely unphased by the very scary sounding dog fight that broke out on the path behind their house!)

Playful Moose

Moose also must have played with a hundred different things today!

He played with his ball...


He chewed his bone...


He found an abandoned cat toy he liked (which he subsequently destroyed)...

He stole my Gatorade (I only turned away for a second!)...

And he tried to play with Little Man, but I wisely kept the glass between them as long as possible. (When they finally met face to face in the late afternoon, Moose got smacked in the face! Luckily, there was no visible damage and Moose was unphased. Little Man was out of sorts, though.)

Thanks for coming over, Moose! I had so much fun!

Sleepy Moose

Moose must've slept in a hundred different spots/positions today. (Little Man is taking the opportunity to check him out in this first picture.)

SkipToMyLou and B-roc

I was going to post an adorable video that I recorded of Skip and Broc playing with the laser toy, but it's taking forever and I'm too tired to figure it out tonight! Maybe tomorrow. In the meantime, this slightly fuzzy picture of them watching the laser will have to do!

Moooooooooose

Moose is staying out at my house with me today.

The Skipper

Me and the Skipper. He liked my dangly earrings! :)

Skipster and Brocstar

Wow, those dudes can eat!

Good night, sweet little boys

More porch time this evening.

Both of them rocked in the rocking chair with me for a little while. I tried to take a picture of Skip lounging in my lap, but the string on the camera was too tempting up that close.

Skip and Broc (short for Broccoli)

Check out these adorable little dudes that I visited this morning!


Skip has a blue collar...














Broc has a red collar...












So sweet - they cleaned each other's faces...














Then attacked...














Then did some yoga...











Basked in the sun...

















And watched the bugs outside.

What the heck is Buggledoo?

This is my sweet Little Man and the reason for the word "Buggledoo" (pronounced "bug-uhl-doo"). I am frequently amused at the evolution of nicknames. This nickname for Little Man evolved as follows: "Little Man" became "Little Dude," which became "Dude," which became "Doodlebug," which later became "Buggledoo." Jon came up with "Buggledoo" and explained that it was "you know - Doodlebug mixed up."

Buggledoo Pet Sitting, LLC

I'm removing my old personal entries because I'm going to start posting pictures and updates relating to the business here while my business website is pending. I will likely start up another personal blog at some point, but my focus now is on the new pet-sitting business. I'm VERY excited about it and hope anyone that liked my blogging will continue to visit this site to see how things are going with the business and to meet my furry clients. Yay!

Is Buggledoo Pet Sitting, LLC "licensed, bonded and insured"?

Many pet sitters advertise that they are "licensed, bonded and insured." Buggledoo Pet Sitting, LLC is "licensed" and insured. It is not bonded. Let me explain....

Buggledoo Pet Sitting has pet sitters' liability insurance from Pet Sitters Associates, LLC.

I am/we are not bonded because I am the only person providing services for the company at this time. Owners are generally not eligible for bonding and even when they are, it really does not make sense. Bonding is intended to compensate the owner of a company for damages resulting from theft or dishonesty of employees of the company. Even though some policies now permit an owner/sole service provider to purchase a dishonesty bond, I have not purchased this because I know that I am not going to steal from my clients. In lieu of bonding, I do have an additional rider on my insurance policy that covers loss of the client's property while in my care. Many people in the industry argue that this is actually better for the client than bonding because with bonding, the client generally must first prove guilt in a court of law (which I'm sure you understand can be difficult, onerous, time-consuming and expensive) before the bond will cover the losses. If you are interested in hearing more about this, I would be happy to discuss or you could read the relevant portions of the following pages (from the 2 major providers of pet sitter liability insurance): http://www.petsitllc.com/faq.php (See "What about bonds?" and "What does the special property of others endorsement for $95 include?") and http://www.petsitterinsurance.com/napps/faq.asp (See the question that begins with "I've read & understand coverage, etc. There is debate as to whether sole proprieter needs bonding.").

"Licensing" in the pet sitting industry just means that the pet sitter has a local business license. Buggledoo Pet Sitting, LLC does have a local business license from the Albemarle County Business License Office.

I also recently completed PetTech's PetSaver course on pet first aid and CPR and received PetTech's certification on those subjects.