Peculiar Day with an Insulting Flavour

I went to pick some keys up to walk a dog this week while the owners sister in law is on holiday. This is the 3rd stint I have walked for them.
With me, so far? Good.

Knock knock.
The lady answers and says “Four Paws? “

I look in shock and horror.

She repeats “Four Paws? “

I reply  “I really hope not”

She sees the horror in my eyes. Tries to get out of it, by saying her other half never told her my business name. Fair enough but wait.

I look at my left boob at my work logo on my tshirt, and read I'm Uncle Eric's Pet Care Services.

Now for legal reasons, I will leave it there. But for my local pet business friends they will see an extra level of irony here. And some will be pissing themselves laughing.

Don't worry, I put the lady straight immediately.

STOP LAUGHING

Heat

Its days like this, (as I type, the hottest one of the year so far) I am pleased I walk only 2 dogs max at a time. Its the small things to notice in dogs, if there is a problem. Especially if a dog is suffering in the heat.

Today, a black lab, wasn't walking like his usual self, and I quickly realised he wanted to turn around and go home. If we walked 6 dogs on or off the leash. I might have missed the signs and carried on. And tragedy could have easily happened.

We kept to as many shadows on the way back as possible to keep the sun off him and I made sure he had a drink before I left.

Tomorrow, I'm putting a hat and shades on him. Water spray guns at the ready.

Random pictures (Dry test run)

Just a few random pictures from my phone. Dry run for future multiple picture postings.

Happy 9th Birthday to us

Hello,

We have been so busy lately, we forgot our 9th Birthday

Back on the 10th June 2007 we took the plunge and decided to go self employed and start looking after people's pets.

Our core business service is dog walking and pet care within your own home while you are away. Other services came and went. We tried having dogs stay here but quickly found "house trained" dogs were not at all house trained. So that was quickly scrapped.

We pride ourselves on being dedicated on lead/leash walkers. I have turned away customers who insisted on off lead walks.

One old lady rang me 2 years later forgetting she rang me previously. (Since learned she burnt her way through nearly every dog walker in the area at the time), telling me her previous dog walker was out  walking off lead, and it was involved in a car crash. Her dog walker stopped trading instantly with guilt over its death.

Its comments like this, that make me stick to my guns.

We will ALWAYS only ever do on lead walks.

We thought about homemade dog and cat food. Recipes and nutrition were painstakingly researched, trial batches were cooked. My pets loved it. I even had some customers test them for me with their pets. Most enjoyed them. Not going to lie, some wouldn't touch it.
But the logistics for us to cook so much to make a healthy profit, find premises, getting health and safety certificates. Etc etc.

While we had a good product, we didn't have the capital safety net, to go ahead. Booooo.

Since then, my research has led me to decide raw food is better for my pets, so won't be restarting the cooked food idea back up.

Update

Some reason post reverted to a draft and therefore lost alot of work. Sorry, not retyping all that again, even if I could remember it.

Horrible phone call

Today, I found myself in a horrible situation of having to call a customer while on holiday with bad news.

One of my customers keeps chickens as pets like I do. However their setup is different to mine. Their coop is in an open part of their garden, surrounded only by an electric fence. The outer coop door is held open permanently by a wire catch. The pop hole  automatically opens and closes by a light sensor.

I just go and feed them as and when required. Today when I went to feed them, I spotted the outer door was closed, which never happened before. The strong wind last night must have dislodged the wire catch, causing the door to swing closed. This unfortunately stopped the hens getting into the pop hole and go to bed safely.

It seems during the night while they were locked out, one either somehow escaped the enclosure and was roaming free in the countryside, or a fox had managed to grab it. I did look around the neighbouring area but no sign of it live or dead. No feathers on the ground either suggesting a struggle between a fox and chicken.

There is still a chance of her returning safely on her own, a slim one, but a chance nevertheless. This hen is around 8yrs old, their oldest, and I'm sure her disappearance this will hit the owners hard. Pets are pets, whatever the species.

Side project

Yes. I'm doing it again.

I have yet another side project on the go. I'm writing a book. Yes, we all go through phases where we want to do it. So, with no experience, I am doing it.

Maybe the finished book might be given to the world, or maybe its shite, or only seen by my family and laughed at.

But, it's started.

It's,.... Wait for it..... A murder, revenge against animal cruelty. It's not a whodunit, more a whydunit.

I have unexpectedly got a forensic expert on board to help me with technical stuff. Thank you Twitter. A huge rock of good luck fell my way and landed in my lap.

The amount of science reading ahead of me is scary. Soil. Decomposition. Corpses. Bugs.

I'm also doing an online course on soil. Is this a midlife crisis or what?

And for anyone reading this, who spotted my other "projects", which haven't as yet got off the ground, they are still happening, but yes, on an indefinite hiatus.

Few things tearing into my free time and also things affecting my ability to do the Petologist podcasts. Main problem is a lack of a working pc/laptop.
The tablet apps I tried aren't good enough to edit on it. But the apps are good enough to write on.

Soooooo, using the resources I have, I am improvising where and when I can.

Thats my catch up news.

Oh wait. And I am also on an advertising campaign. Got 2 lunchtime dog walking spaces to fill.