I am not able to remember the moment I decided to start Happy Tails. It seemed like a no brainer to pet sit dogs in my home. And with Austin Craigslist and Vista print I was up and going. At first I would take any dog. Huge dogs, hyper dogs. It didnt matter. In almost 6 years of business I only had one rude client. And all he said was in regard to my cost you aren training them. It is embarrassing to admit, but I have admitted worse on Facebook, but I kept no records. At first I had everyone fill out a form. But when I left Travis Heights 4 years ago to move in with Craig, the forms went by the wayside. At first I walked the dogs for miles, but I had one bolter and after that I was so afraid of losing a dog. My first client was Hercules, part wolf. HIs owner told me he would never be affectionate, so when he first put his head on my foot, it was a big deal. Looking back, I would have taken records of each dog and their owners. Such wonderful people I have met through the years. And the dogs, oh I do believe all of their love healed me deep within, in parts I didnt know still hurt. They reparented me. They never judged me. I officially became a dog nut. If a clients dog died when they called me I would start sobbing harder than they were. Recently, one of our clients had to write me an email when her dog passed to cheer me up. It turned out we got a bunch of regulars. So the dogs all knew each other. And just seeing the doggies so scared at first and then each time they came it got easier. I kept no records, No chronicle of every dog and no idea, I mean no idea, how much money I made through the years. There were times when people handed me money for taking care of such adorable dogs, that I really thought I should be paying them. Like rent a dog. Sometimes, I cried when the dogs left. I always walked up to the car and pressed my face in the window for a last goodbye. These dogs arent like our children, for many of us, they are our children. We all changed to grain free dog food through the years. One by one. Some bad things happened, a few funny things, really funny. Once a dog barked non stop for days. The owners called to check in and I said doing great, just great. It was the only time I had to lie about that. When I got off of the phone I realized the dog had to stop barking. I raised my voice for the first time at a dog. Yelled quit barking. Next thing I knew the couples family member showed up to retrieve the dog. Come to find out I had not really hung the phone up and the owners heard me yell at their dog. The only time I have yelled at a dog I got busted. So Happy Tails has come to mean so much to me. So much easier than Social Work! If only this was a full time job. It is my dream job, lying around with dogs. Snuggling with dogs. Meeting great people. Sometimes I try to remember every dog and it feels like I almost can. We have lots of photos. And luckily for my Facebook friends it didnt occur to me to start posting their photos until recently.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 17:57:47 +0000
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