Pet Sit 8

[Annie's Pet Sitting BIG Adventure] Pet Sit #8

Continuing our pet sitting trek, we came across this doggy duo and a clutch of hens. We've rechristened the doggies as Miss Marple due to her skills of observation (nothing gets past her 🔎 ) and Mr Snuffle Chops (more on that later!).

This sit was MINnie (#MINnieMascot) and my first sit with 🐣 hens who added another dimension. Their owner has kindly said that we can reveal their real names here as they are so colourful and deserve a mention. So, in no particular order, here goes:

🐔 Florence (Chief Moaner)

🐔 Seraphina

🐔 Mary Daisy Dinkle

🐔 Herminaguilda/Rockchick (one hen - two names!)

🐔 Miss Margaret McQueen (Escape Artist)

As this was my first time on hen care, I had everything to learn. Care was easy enough, but the gift of a freshly 🥚 egg each day was just magic. Some of the hens are Silkies and look faintly comical. Another hen really took on the role of Mother Hen, clucking around the others and keeping them in line ❤️ .

Now, let's meet our new canine friends...

First up is Miss Marple, a Shar Pei (a breed that nearly died out in the last century). Shar Peis originally hailed from China and were guard dogs. This accounts for Miss Marple's natural affinity for keeping a watchful eye on her owner when out and about. She's the gentlest soul but, whether close by or further away, she's always on look out duty, ready to zoom back to your side if she thinks you're in danger. These dogs are bred to have additional skin folds. Real care is needed when petting Miss Marple as, touching her too much, causes her fur to fall out. Instead, I used different ways of dispensing affection - light pats on her nose, keeping her close, lots of eye contact and chatting to her.

Next up is Mr Snuffle Chops, an elderly French bull dog. He's Mr Affectionate, batting your hand out of the way if he thinks that this will get him closer to a cuddle. He's also a fair weather walker, doing a convincing impression of Mr Grumpy, refusing to budge for a walk if he's not impressed with the weather. Miss Marple is the other extreme. She loves all walks and, when walking up the drive to come home after her walk, she becomes the equivalent of a ball and chain on the end of the lead, dragging her paws so as to speak.

And now let's tackle the delicate issue of Mr Snuffle Chops's name. For those that know about pigs and truffles, Mr Snuffle Chops has mastered the same skill except...ahem...he uses it for 🐇 rabbit droppings! Needless to say, I was on red alert for this behaviour as this particular 'delicacy' isn't meant to be on the menu!

Thank you to their fab owner for participating. 😊

👉 This is part of Annie's Pet Sitting BIG Adventure - to complete 24 pet sits by the end of 2024 and to raise £2024 for Mums In Need 

(#2024in2024). Please donate: https://www.givey.com/anniespetsittingbigadventure 👈

❓ Want to read previous updates? You can catch them here:

https://www.mumsinneed.com/get-involved/annies-pet-sitting-big-adventure/updates

#confrontcoercivecontrol #2024in2024