This weekend was the weekend sir Oliver had to be taken to our dog-sitter. It was as exciting for me as for sir Oliver, only my excitement took place before the event and his during his stay with the dog-sitter.
We picked this couple to be our dog-sitters due to getting to know the man and seeing him being so calm and sweet with sir Oliver. It was one of the man of the foundation we got sir Oliver from, that did a house call to see if all was going fine with sir Oliver.
At the end of the morning this Saturday, we brought sir Oliver to the dog-sitters. We put up his dog bed in this strange house and sir Oliver started investigating the living room. The plan had been, to go for a walk with sir Oliver and the man, and then half way the walk leaving the man and sir Oliver to go home. Since sir Oliver was quite calm and sniffing around the living room we decided to sneak away without a walk first.
During the day I had moments where I did think about him wondering how he was doing, though it was never with any anxiety or worry. I had seen how this man was behaving around our dog and that gave me trust and peace to let go and enjoy my parents 50th anniversary.
Around 10:30 PM my daughter and I went to the dog-sitters to collect sir Oliver. My daughter called the couple to let them know we were on our way. The woman was home and the man was walking sir Oliver. So we parked the car and went to their home. My daughter heard sir Oliver’s name tag tinkle. And when we looked back we saw the man with sir Oliver.
We all went in their house at once and sir Oliver was super excited to see us again. We came back! We didn’t abandon him! Or at least that was how I explained his excitement. The couple told us that sir Oliver had a bit of a hard time after we had left that morning. He had been wheezing and crying and then when the couple was nice and sweet he made the best out of it.
The man told us that sir Oliver had been sniffing at a certain car that evening, so he was curious if that was our car. And indeed it was, so sir Oliver is able to tell which car is the one he travels in. And then he spotted us, only by scent, and tracked us down at the front door of the dog-sitters house.
These sweet people didn’t want to be paid for their services, so I made them my homemade chocolates. Lucky enough they could appreciate the dark chocolate with almond paste filling. They even offered to dog-sit sir Oliver again whenever we needed it.
The moment we started to collect all sir Oliver’s belongings to get ready to go home again, sir Oliver got a bit nervous. To let him know that he was allowed to come home with us we did put on his harness and leash, as a sign for him to know he was going home with us.
After being a little homesick he had been having a nice day and we found out that sir Oliver is a bit of a womanizer, since he only liked the woman to pet him and get him ready to go outside. The man however was good for the walks but not to touch him or do anything special with him. That is exactly what we experience in our own household with my partner. So a bit of a relief for my partner that sir Oliver behavior of being afraid and cautious with him, is not personal. Sir Oliver might have had bad experiences as a test animal with men in general. Simple a point to work through for sir Oliver and we as his caregivers.
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