Weekend recap: Dog sitting reality check

Hello everyone! Hope you had a nice weekend. It was gorgeous in Chicago but I was Wisconsin, dog sitting my adorable fur nephew….

….and getting a huge reality check.

Dog sitting is hard. Like, really, really hard.

Maybe I was spoiled with my previous fur nephew visits where it was all loves and snuggles and kisses and joy all the time. I will say that there was little of that this weekend.

It was more of me dragging him down the block during our walks because he wouldn’t cooperate, cleaning up two bathroom messes in the house (within the first 12 hours,) cleaning up a little dog puke (which he ate, OMG gross,) and trying to lure/drag him in the house after he spent the day laying in the sun outside.

It was just…so emotionally taxing.

I could handle the walks and did my best to keep him on his schedule. But being woken up at 2 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday mornings (usually by puppy sneezes in my face or burrowing in my hip) just wore me down.

Saturday, my SIL called to check in and I completely broke down. The tears were a mix of frustration and feelings of failure. I have two college degrees and am successful at my job and I can’t take care of a 15 lb doxie?

Fortunately, she and my bro were so patient and helpful, both surprised by Steve’s actions. TC sent some super supportive texts too. Everyone assured me I wasn’t doing a bad job, but I still felt like I was. Yesterday, I could barely look at him before my brother came home, his late attempts for snuggling half-hearted on both ends.

I know it won’t always be like this, but I think for now, my dog sitting services and dog search are on hold.