Adventures in Puppy-Sitting

My husband and I spent this past weekend looking after a friend's 6 and 1/2 month old puppy, and let me tell you, it has certainly opened our eyes.

When I was growing up, my family had a couple of different dogs over the years; the first was a black lab that loved rolling around in dead fish when we lived in Ucluelet (you can imagine how good she smelled when she came home from the docks) and the second was a lab/St. Bernard x that my parents had adopted as a means to chase the bears away when we lived in Tofino a few years later. Both dogs were great company and suffice it to say that I've wanted to have a dog again most of my adult life. Due to pet restrictions everywhere we lived before we bought our condo, we could not have a dog.

We finally bit the bullet and bought our current condo 3 years ago and were so excited that we finally had a place of our own where we could have a dog. We didn't get one though because there was a size limit and we've always wanted a larger (aka. real) dog, so once again our hopes were a little deflated. Fast forward a couple of years and the size limit has been lifted, so now we can have any dog we want...yippee!

We've been doing our research to figure out what we need to know about becoming dog owners because that's what we do...we research stuff before making a major investment/commitment. We're smart that way :)

Jump to this past weekend when we get the chance to puppy-sit and see what it's like. I encourage everyone considering getting a dog to do this. Like I said at the beginning, puppy is 6 and 1/2 months old and she's half lab with a quarter German Shepherd and a quarter Rottweiler. Needless to say, she is getting to be a good size, but that's okay. We want a big dog. We live on the 3rd floor and it became a real pain every time we had to take puppy out to pee or poop. We liked taking her for walks and play time. That was great fun, but it was the up and down at random times for bathroom breaks that was the real hassle. It would have been so much easier to just open the door and let her out to do her business. People say all the time that condo living is not appropriate for dogs, and the only reason that I am inclined to agree with that opinion is because of the peeing and pooping needs. We have the living space for a dog and we have a big field next door to our building that is great for play-time, but the up and down for pee and poop breaks was the deal-breaker for us.

So as much as we still really want to have a dog, we have decided to hold off until we can live somewhere with at least a small yard for those all-important pee and poop breaks.

In the meantime, we will continue to do our dog research and pay some much needed attention to our 2 cockatiels who, I 'm sure, were feeling a little neglected while puppy was here. Not to worry though, their cage got a thorough scrubbing today and they're both happily grooming themselves, so I think we're good :)

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I recently started my garden plot and I've already been harvesting!

It seems really quick, but I suppose it's been over a month since I planted everything. I have a 4x8 plot in the community garden at the Tech Park where I work and this is my second year of playing in it. I use the word "playing" because I don't really know what I'm doing, but it's a lot of fun. I go out there on my lunch breaks and it's a great way to spend some time outside in the fresh air.

This year I have planted radishes, green onions, garlic and green beans. The radishes have come up first and I've harvested 3 times in one week, so that's very exciting! I am somewhat disappointed with the beans because last year they grew so well, but this year they really seem to be struggling. Oh well, I guess that's how it goes sometimes.

I think I'll be able to harvest some green onions this week, so I'm looking forward to that. We purposely didn't buy any at the grocery store because I have them growing in my garden :)

I added some fertilizer to the soil before I planted anything and I think that helped to some extent, but I'm pretty sure I should have also added some compost and/or more soil. Maybe it's not too late to add those things. I appreciate input from other gardeners out there, so feel free to offer advice :)

The only problem with this whole gardening thing is that it really makes me want to have my own yard and plant more stuff. Maybe I'll see if there is another plot available in the community garden, and if so, I'll start a second one.  I have tried to grow things on my balcony, but since it's south-facing it gets really hot out there during the summer. I am tempted to try again though. I really like being able to eat stuff that I've grown myself...it's so rewarding! Plus, fresh veggies straight from the garden taste so much better :)