Guy and I had to go to Guy's brother's wedding this weekend. The wedding was out of town, and so we were gone Friday and Saturday night. Scarlett LOVES my friend Kayla (who has a dane herself), so we asked Kayla if she wouldn't mind dogsitting for us. Kayla has watched Scarlett overnight before, but that was when Scarlett was much younger.
Kayla came over on Tuesday for dinner and a little bit of Scarlett Education. We went through all of our training routines and daily life routines and at the end of it, Kayla wasn't scared off so I was feeling pretty confident! Scarlett is absolutely head over heels for Kayla so I had no worries about that either.
Kayla was working all day Saturday so another friend of mine (who Scarlett would totally lay down and die for) came over for 3-4 hours on Saturday afternoon to take Scarlett for a walk and hang out with her and watch TV. The two of them had a great time.
Kayla did a fantastic job and I am SO happy to have such a willing and competent friend who would jump at the chance to pay ME to let her watch my dog! They had a blast all weekend and even though it rained the whole time, Kayla still took Scarlett out for several walks. Now that's dedication!
We normally board her at my breeder's farm but particularly because of Scarlett's allergy issues and her last really bad flare-up at the farm in February, I'm a bit terrified to send her back there. So having a dog sitter is just amazing amazing amazing. I'm so pleased.
I have to say, though...Scarlett really is way more sensitive than I thought. By leaving her at home with a friend we reduced her stress tenfold, but I did notice when we came home that she had dry skin, was shedding, and had one or two allergy bumps (which I think are exacerbated by stress) on her legs. She has also been really clingy and has had loose stools. This morning, she refused breakfast and has had a growly tummy all morning.
Poor girl. She's not so tough after all.
She'll be back to her normal self soon. We have two or three more weddings to go to this summer so I think the more she gets used to Kayla staying with her, the better she will get.
