While we were living
in Guadalajara, Mexico, we took the bus four hours to Bucerias, Mexico and did a
five week house and dog sit for Wayne and Lisa Elliot. We didn’t know them; it was a referral through
a friend of a friend, and we had to do interviews, send references and finally
let Lisa peruse our Facebook page before they were comfortable with us.
It was their first-time using strangers to house sit. They have a rescue dog, Lucy, that was two years old. She is a dachshund mix, very sweet. She required no medication but had a very specific meat only diet that we learned on the first day there. She was one of the easiest dogs we have ever sat for. While it was hot and humid at the coast at this time of the year and rained a lot, we managed to get nearly all her walks in and even took her on a couple of outings.
We mostly just spent
the time with her at the house during the five weeks. I bonded with her instantly and she shadowed
me a lot. Jeanne was ever the mom for
her with towels at the ready after a wet walk, or a shower if she was getting
dirty, or some nail trimming if it was bothering her.
It was a wonderful
experience being with Lucy and we still miss her a lot. For the home, we had a hurricane come through
during our stay. Damage was minimal;
mostly just some clay tiles that had fallen off their awning by the pool and I
cleaned that up along with protecting and replacing all their potted plants
during the event. We had some satellite
and power issues that I worked with Wayne on addressing but other than that, we
managed quite well.
