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Did you miss Random Friday? Don’t worry… it’s back… and better than ever pretty much the same as before. Now on to the random.
1. If you follow me on Instagram (@ourwaldobungie), you’re already aware that I am in love with a new guy. His name is Hamish.
He is my nephkitty. Nate and Deanna adopted him a few months ago and I am absolutely smitten. He is very social – almost like a dog. I can’t get over his adorable face – soulpatch and all. Not sure, but I might try to convince Daniel we need a kitteh of our own. Do you think he’d go for it?
2. The Brookside neighborhood in Kansas City (just a few blocks from us!) was featured in this month’s HGTV Magazine! Pretty sure the houses they featured are the same ones I drool over when I walk the dogs. It is pretty cool to see Kansas City finally getting the props it deserves.
3. Turk and Rufus are spending a few weeks with my parents in Lincoln, so Miss Polly Pocket is an only-dog for awhile. This means that she is my wingwoman when I go to the coffee shop, pick up my dry cleaning, and go for long walks on the Trolley Trail.
I have to be careful though. On Tuesday, I forgot to feed Polly until 10:00 a.m. (gasp!) and she nearly swore off being my wingwoman for good.
4. Finally, and most importantly, today is my bestie Deanna’s birthday! Here is De with her first Birchbox package – I got her a 3 month subscription to the service for her birthday. Happy Birthday, De!
This weekend is packed full of birthday fun and Polly time – is it 5:00 yet?! Happy weekend!
In the early days of bringing Polly home to foster she was so riddled with anxiety that leaving her home alone during the work day was not an option. Luckily, my boss is a huge dog lover and invited Polly to join me at the office for a few days. Well, a “few days” has turned into a regular occurrence over the past few months because my boss has enjoyed having her around so much.
Polly has become the perfect office mascot. She seems to know when she needs to be quiet and chilled out and when she should do something goofy to lift our spirits – like a mid-afternoon zoomies to snap us out of a post-lunch lull, followed by a big pittie smile.
Polly has developed a very special relationship with my boss. Every day I bring Polly to the office, she waits patiently by the front door for him to show up so they can carry out their routine.
When he arrives, she greets him joyously and checks his hands to see what he has brought her that day – a Kong ball to chew on or an order of Burger King tater tots or some other delicious treat. She then follows him into his office and waits patiently by his side while he eats his breakfast, graciously accepting any dropped bits of breakfast sandwich. Once their breakfast routine is over, Polly heads back to the front door to man her post as “client greeter.” Although she has been known to fall asleep on the job.
With as much joy as Polly has brought to our office, it was not the least bit surprising when I heard the International Journal of Workplace Health Management published a preliminary study in March that found bringing dogs to work “may buffer the impact of stress during the workday for their owners and make the job more satisfying for those with whom they come into contact.“
So far Polly has charmed every person she has come into contact with, including clients, with every one dropping down to her level to lavish her with head scratches and belly rubs. I want to clarify that I do leash Polly when a client comes into the office in order to respect their space (not everyone wants to be covered in Polly kisses). It also is a great opportunity for me to work on getting Polly to focus on me and sit quietly when she is faced with great excitement (like making a new friend), but most clients make a point to come to her, leash or no, to say hello. By the time they leave, Polly is their friend for life.
It has been a great experience to bring Polly with me to work, and I know that it has been great for her too. Maybe it could even lead to her finding her furever family? One can hope…
* Did you know that we post daily on our Facebook page? “Like” us for more photos/updates of Polly Pocket, Turk, Rufus, and their humans.
** Polly Pocket is available for adoption through Heart of America Humane Society. If you want her to carpool to work with you, email me at {ourwaldobungie@gmail.com}.
Polly is available for adoption through Heart of America Humane Society.
Polly Pocket here to share with you about my limits. You may not realize this (apparently foster mama didn’t*), but some dogs have limits as to how much they can handle before they go berserker and melt into a puddle of drool and stress toots.
You see, the thing is that I am just getting the hang of being part of a family in a house let alone out in the big bad world! So while I am finally able to be calm and hang out with Foster Mama and Foster Daddy (and Turkey and Rufus), I get really anxious when we leave the comfort of Foster House. I see other doggies and I go bark, bark, bark to let them know that I am not scared but very TOUGH. Sometimes I even bark at doggies who I know are my friends, like Dante.
Yesterday I met up with Dante and his Mama, Amy of Fido Fetch Photography, at the Suds of Fun charity dog wash for the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City. Foster Mama had thought this event would be a good way to both get me a bath and market me to potential furever families at the same time. She knew there would be some challenges though, since many of the factors involved in this outing pushed my limits: (1) Lots of dogs; (2) Lots of people – most of which were not paying attention to me; and (3) bath time (shudder). As soon as we got out of the car I started bark, bark, barking to let everyone know that I had arrived and that I am very TOUGH. I thought Foster Mama would appreciate that I was announcing our arrival, but she looked really embarrassed. She even tried to lure me from my hyper-attentive state with hot dogs, but seriously? I am a terrier, lady…it takes more than a hot dog to break MY focus. So instead of walking around and sniffing other dogs’ butts (which was making me feel growly), we found a quiet corner away from the hustle and bustle where Foster Mama made me “sit,” and she petted me when I was quiet. When it was time for my bath, we had to take this twist-y turn-y way into the bath time building because she didn’t want me to bark or lunge at anyone’s dog. Once inside, I faced death in the face the dreaded bathtub. I made sure to give Foster Mama my surliest glare to show her how I felt about bath time. Then she tickled underneath my chin and made me smile just a little before letting Amy snap this photo – tricked!
After my brush with death bath, Foster Mama got me some brisket for being so brave and took me back to a quiet spot away from the other doggies and let me eat just enough to not get sick, but enough to make my tummy warm and full and happy. I was a little upset when she gave a couple of bites to Dante, but she told me that he was her favorite hot dog, and I needed to chill out.
After my brisket, I calmed down enough to walk around to look at the different booths for a little bit. Some people’s dog’s were on retractable leashes, and a few times those dogs were out reeeeeeaaaallllly far on the leash and would just get up in my face! IN. MY. FACE! But luckily, Foster Mama and Amy were keeping a close eye out for me so Amy ran interference with Dante a few times and Foster Mama knew to redirect my focus if I started to get growly. One time, she even redirected my focus with a teeny tiny pup cone from Sheridan’s(my new favorite thing). I love the ice creams but not the cone, so I gave that part to Dante. See? I can share.
When I finished my cone, Foster Mama felt like I had done enough for the day and chauffeured me back to Foster House. She told me that I had “made some strides” but we still have a lot to work on. Walking around by the end of the night without barking or snapping at any dogs – good. Trying to hide between a hunky firefighter’s legs for three minutes because I was nervous – not so good. But honestly, can you blame me on that one?
* Foster Mom here – although Polly doesn’t think so, we do recognize that she has some boundary issues when out in public. I do want to help her work through those though, which is why I took her to this event. I was very careful to read her signs and take her away from the group when she was feeling overstimulated. The firefighter though – she beelined for him. Not sure what I could have done.
** Polly Pocket is still available for adoption – see her profile here!
Our Waldo Bungie 