There was Sebastian the Chihuahua mix, who was very protective of his space, which meant he didn't like to be around people or dogs...(although he did warm up to us but not to dogs.)
And Baby Ruth, the Pitt/Boxer mix who took forever to warm up to everyone. She stuck by me like glue (like what she is doing in the picture!) She was/is afraid of men, reactive to dogs and cautious around children.
And Otis, the happy-go-lucky Labradoodle who is great with kids and dogs, but a counter-surfer and jumper. Otis didn't come until Monday.
And then of course, Joey and Ace make six.
Basically, I had to switch off dogs every hour (with the exception of Joey and Ace, who just hung out with the kids in their rooms.) So I would have Cujo upstairs with me for an hour (he had to be first because he was the highest energy and would rip things up if too long in the kennel) and then Baby Ruth, and then Sebastian and so on. Every hour, a dog.
Because they were kenneled so much, I had to take them for a walk. Each dog.
Friday rained half the day. I took nine walks that day. Nine! I have never walked so much! I had Max take Joey and Ace for their walks.
On Saturday, I had to do all the walks again but I wasn't sure I could do so many two days in a row. So with Sebastian (the Chihuahua) I began to exercise him in the backyard with the kids instead. All I had to do was hold onto the leash while he chased the kids back and forth. One walk eliminated!
Later, Dennis took Cujo for a bike ride, (one bike ride for Cujo is like two walks!) but he didn't come home until later so I had to take Cujo for walks in the meantime.
By Saturday night, I felt (and looked) like the walking dead.
Sunday was Corpus Christi and we had to be at the church because Anna was part of the procession (she was a First Communicant.) This was an 8:00 mass and one we normally don't go to it because it's too hard to get everyone up and ready on time. But we had to go and so we went.
I was so tired that morning, I can't remember the last time I was so tired. And trying to get five dogs peed and fed in one hour, plus five kids ready for church--one of them needing to be back in her first Communion dress, it's no wonder that I forgot to get myself ready.
Yep, I forgot to get dressed. I just threw on what I was wearing the day before and, being so worried about being late (which we nearly were), I didn't even realize that I was wearing my jeans Capri with my dirty tennis shoes and no socks!! To church! On a feast day!
I didn't even realize this until I watched a video that I took of the procession (I was so moved, I decided to take a short video) that when I directed the camera downward to show the rose petals on the ground, I saw my dirty white tennis shoes! Pretty embarrassing! Everyone in their nice clothes and me, in my dog training clothes!
Did I mention that I hadn't showered for three days???
Later that day, my body demanded a break whether I wanted to take a break or not. I felt dizzy and everything would get hazy every once in a while. I kenneled up all the dogs and slept. Then I felt better.
Monday was when Otis came and so that meant six dogs all at once. Lucky for me, Otis and Cujo hit it off and that saved me from taking Cujo for multiple walks for his high energy needs.
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| Finally, I get to use that kennel! |
And then, at 4:00, Cujo's owners came to pick him up. And then at 7:30, Sebastian's owners came. And life got a little easier.
Otis too, is here only for Day Training, so he was picked up at 3:30. That left us with just Baby Ruth. And of course, our dogs. But it was much more doable.
So now, I have Otis for Day Training and later this week, Baby Ruth will be going home. I'm not sure I will take that many dogs at once again, but at the same time, if I ever find myself in that position again, it's nice to know that I'm able to do it.
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