Dog Sitting: First Few Nights

Meet Cloud, a two month old Siberian Husky who will be staying with us for a few months.  Under an unfortunate circumstance, his owners needed to temporarily send Cloud away until they find a pet friendly apartment. 

I was very excited that Scruffy will finally have a play mate, or so I thought.

Last Saturday, Cloud arrived with his owner.  Scruffy and I met them at the front lawn.  As soon as his owner let him loose, Cloud excitedly ran towards me and started jumping and licking.  I was carrying Scruffy since I did not put his leash on.  To my surprise, Scruffy reacted violently towards Cloud.  He furiously growled, barked, and showed his fangs.  It might be a manifestation of Scruffy being territorial and he might have felt threatened when Cloud ran and jump towards us as well.   

We were worried that they will not get along well.  Cloud does not have an alternative place to stay.  So, his owner decided to stay for the night to help Cloud adopt to his new home.  We spent hours trying to calm Scruffy down.  Although Scruffy and Cloud were in separate pens, Scruffy gets really upset with Cloud's every move, even when Cloud was just sleeping.

The first night was fine since Cloud's owner slept next to his pen.  However, the night his owner left, chaos began.  Cloud whined and cried for hours.  We thought he will eventually get tired and fall asleep.  Unfortunately, we were wrong.  Cloud just cried louder and longer, and became more motivated to get out of his pen, which he eventually did.    

Getting out of his pen was not as horrifying as what he did next.  My uncle went down stairs to check on Scruffy and Cloud.  He did not expect to see Cloud running around the house, chewing on plants and curtains, and worse, made the kitchen his big potty area.  The next thing he knew, he was chasing Cloud around the house at midnight.

When morning came, it was a totally different story!  All I can say is that I have not woken up in a morning of total chaos. :-p

Stay tuned for more of Cloud and Scruffy's "misadventures!"

Don't forget to click the pictures!

Head Count!

Scruffy is officially a registered Orange County resident!

Soon after Scruffy completed his rabies shots and was neutered, we applied for pet licensing.  This is one of the things that is new to me since it is not a common practice in the Philippines.   

I thought of the reasons why pets need to be licensed, and animal census comes off the top of my head.  But, I was curious as to what other reasons there might be.  So, I did a little research and came across these two websites:  OC Animal Care and  foundanimals.org.

The OC Animal Care website is Orange County's official website that provides necessary information on animal care such as pet licensing, pet adoption, lost and found pets, etc.  It stated that pet licensing provides data to support investigation that helps prevent animal cruelty, neglect, abandonment, and dog bites, and it also indicates dog ownership.  

You can choose to license your pets online or by mailing the application form to OC Animal Care Department.  Since we got Scruffy's application form from the Orange Pet Care Center, we just decided to mail the form and payment to the department.  When applying for your pet's license, you need to send a copy of certificate or proof that your pet has completed its rabies vaccination.  Your vet can provide this copy for you.  The licensing fee depends on your pet's age and whether your pet has been neutered or spayed.  For a complete licensing fee schedule, please visit the website.

Since Scruffy was only five months old and was already neutered when we applied, the licensing fee was only twenty four dollars.  We received a dog tag that has Scruffy's permanent identification number engraved on it.  The license needs to be renewed every year.

The foundanimals.org on the other hand, is a privately funded animal foundation in Los Angeles that aims to find alternatives to stop animal euthanasia.  The website provides a more detailed explanation and benefits of pet licensing, and answers questions such as what are the consequences of not licensing your pets, do pets with microchip still need to be licensed, etc.

Scruffy looks more handsome with his new dog collar and tag, and does not look like a stray dog anymore!