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A Chaotic Day of Dog Walking
I have to tell you this story before I forget it.
I had three walks today, all pretty close to each other and timed with half an hour between. Easy to get to by bike. Yay! (I love having a job that lets me bike around the city!)
I got to the first walk fifteen minutes early and started looking for the lock box with the keys. I couldn't find one on the street despite thorough searching. Then it occurred to me to look in the alley. I found a Wag box there, but it was the wrong one. The client's code was four digits, and this box only had three. I tried using different three digit parts of the four digit code, but that didn't work. I walked around the building again and texted Wag to ask whether there were two clients here and if there was a second box I couldn't find. I called and left a voice mail too, saying I was worried about making my next walk. Then, because the client had texted me earlier in the day to give me some info, I texted zir to ask for a pointer toward the box.
Some time passed, during which I anxiously circled the building more times. Wag texted me back with the code I already had; the wrong, too-long one. Then the client texted me to direct me to the box. It was the one I'd already found. I said that I thought that might be the case, but Wag seemed to have given me the wrong code. Zie gave me the right one, which I passed on to Wag to update their notes. By that point, it was nearly time to leave for my next walk. I told the client that I was so sorry this had happened, and that I'd do a short walk right then and come back after my other walks to do a full one. Zie was happy with that, and said that as long as she got to get out and pee, all was well.
I got the keys from the box and looked for the door to the apartment. This building is like a maze. Three different sets of exterior stairs on each side of the building, and no numbers on the units. I tried a door on the first floor, then realized there was someone looking at me through the half-circle window at the top. I was so started that I stepped back, stumbled, and hit my head on the barred fence separating the building from the next one over. I tried a few more doors with no luck. I think I scared someone inside one unit, as after I tried the lock, I heard the deadbolt close. Finally, I went around the building and in through the front.
Vega, the dog I was there to walk, was an adorable, excitable, 30-ish pound, not quite fully grown puppy. Not just excitable; very excitable! So excited that when I let her out of her crate, she excitedly peed on the floor. I started trying to put her leash on her, and that got her more excited, and she made small puddles elsewhere, as well as in her crate. I figured I was going to be late if I walked her, and at this point she'd peed anyway. I cleaned up with paper towels, put her back in, and left for my next walk.
I made it there with five minutes to spare and looked at the info in the app. Several notes on where the dog was and such, but no info on access to the house. I looked around and found no lockbox near the front door. I walked around to the side and couldn't find one there either. I texted Wag. "Wag," I said, "I seem to have angered the dog-walking gods today. I'm at my second walk and there's no lock box, nor any info about how to get in. Can you help?"
I got a response from the client from my first walk, to whom I'd accidentally sent that message instead of to Wag support. Zie let me know I'd texted the wrong person, and that zie was sorry that the gods were not with me today. I thanked her, apologized, and sent the message to the correct recipient. Wag said they'd look into it. Meanwhile, I kept going back and forth between the front and side door, looking for a lock box. I went into the alley behind and found an open gate into the backyard, so I went in there and tried the patio door. I walked back to the front and passed a man who may have been looking at me suspiciously as he walked by. I contemplated how Wag walkers explain themselves if questioned by police. I sat on the front steps and waited.
Wag responded and said they had no info either and would try to get in touch with the client, who had failed to fill out the info. They gave me the client's phone number to try too, so I called and left a voice mail. No luck all around. While waiting, I asked how to handle my first walk. I wasn't sure if I get paid for doing the walk after that, but I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get dinged for a no-show or something. After a little discussion, they moved the walk to 3:00 so I could log it then when I went back. Yay!
Twenty minutes after the start time, I let Wag know I was going to my third walk. They said that was find and they would mark it as cancelled and give me the $10 short-notice cancellation fee for walkers. I wondered what was going to go wrong with my third walk. Fortunately, the answer was nothing. It was my fourth time visiting those two cute little fluffballs, and all went pretty smoothly. At one point, I was leaning down to adjust a harness and somehow the leash clip popped loose. I'm not sure what that was about, but I quickly dove for the ground and grabbed the dog. No real fear of losing him, but I did manage to tear a hole in my jeans and scrape my knees slightly. We had a nice little walk on the beach. Grover decided to roll in some bits of leaf, but I think I got most of them out of his fur. I got face-licks from Cookie as usual; yay!
I biked back to walk Vega, who was actually just a block away. I got back into the unit, let her out, and watched her start making puddles on the floor again. I figured if I stopped to clean up, she'd make messes as quickly as I could clean, so I got her leash on and rushed her outside.
We had a nice half-hour walk around the neighborhood. Puppies are just adorable! Everything is wonderful and fascinating! They don't quite understand how their bodies work or how big they are. Vega tried three different openings in a barred fence separating her from some pigeons before concluding she wouldn't fit. An elderly woman with a lot of dog experience stopped to interact with her. Vega was scared of a lot of things at first, but warmed quickly.
When the time was up, I walked Vega back to her building and tried again to figure out which door it was. The client asked that we use the back door to avoid annoying the landlord, and I knew it was on a fourth floor landing. I thought it was the middle set of stairs, so I started up them and Vega balked. I cajoled and encouraged, but to no avail. So I picked her up and walked up the four flights, where I arrived at the wrong door. That dog was clearly smarter than me. After we climbed back down and walked over to the next stairway, she happily climbed it with me.
We got back in and I gave her one of the treats the client told me were in the fridge for her. While she ate, I cleaned up the pee that was around. Finishing that, I filled out my report card for her people, and put her back in her crate. As I did, she peed on the floor again. So I closed her crate, cleaned up again, and left for home.
On the way up in the elevator in my building, I leaned heavily against the wall and then rested my head against the elevator panelling. That felt kind of funny, and I realized I have a small bump where I hit my head on that fence. Of course, when I got into the condo, Piper insisted on going for a walk!
I'm pretty tired, but in an hour we have a school colleague of Danae's coming over in for the first time for games, so I have to do some cleaning! And he likes Factorio too!
I had three walks today, all pretty close to each other and timed with half an hour between. Easy to get to by bike. Yay! (I love having a job that lets me bike around the city!)
I got to the first walk fifteen minutes early and started looking for the lock box with the keys. I couldn't find one on the street despite thorough searching. Then it occurred to me to look in the alley. I found a Wag box there, but it was the wrong one. The client's code was four digits, and this box only had three. I tried using different three digit parts of the four digit code, but that didn't work. I walked around the building again and texted Wag to ask whether there were two clients here and if there was a second box I couldn't find. I called and left a voice mail too, saying I was worried about making my next walk. Then, because the client had texted me earlier in the day to give me some info, I texted zir to ask for a pointer toward the box.
Some time passed, during which I anxiously circled the building more times. Wag texted me back with the code I already had; the wrong, too-long one. Then the client texted me to direct me to the box. It was the one I'd already found. I said that I thought that might be the case, but Wag seemed to have given me the wrong code. Zie gave me the right one, which I passed on to Wag to update their notes. By that point, it was nearly time to leave for my next walk. I told the client that I was so sorry this had happened, and that I'd do a short walk right then and come back after my other walks to do a full one. Zie was happy with that, and said that as long as she got to get out and pee, all was well.
I got the keys from the box and looked for the door to the apartment. This building is like a maze. Three different sets of exterior stairs on each side of the building, and no numbers on the units. I tried a door on the first floor, then realized there was someone looking at me through the half-circle window at the top. I was so started that I stepped back, stumbled, and hit my head on the barred fence separating the building from the next one over. I tried a few more doors with no luck. I think I scared someone inside one unit, as after I tried the lock, I heard the deadbolt close. Finally, I went around the building and in through the front.
Vega, the dog I was there to walk, was an adorable, excitable, 30-ish pound, not quite fully grown puppy. Not just excitable; very excitable! So excited that when I let her out of her crate, she excitedly peed on the floor. I started trying to put her leash on her, and that got her more excited, and she made small puddles elsewhere, as well as in her crate. I figured I was going to be late if I walked her, and at this point she'd peed anyway. I cleaned up with paper towels, put her back in, and left for my next walk.
I made it there with five minutes to spare and looked at the info in the app. Several notes on where the dog was and such, but no info on access to the house. I looked around and found no lockbox near the front door. I walked around to the side and couldn't find one there either. I texted Wag. "Wag," I said, "I seem to have angered the dog-walking gods today. I'm at my second walk and there's no lock box, nor any info about how to get in. Can you help?"
I got a response from the client from my first walk, to whom I'd accidentally sent that message instead of to Wag support. Zie let me know I'd texted the wrong person, and that zie was sorry that the gods were not with me today. I thanked her, apologized, and sent the message to the correct recipient. Wag said they'd look into it. Meanwhile, I kept going back and forth between the front and side door, looking for a lock box. I went into the alley behind and found an open gate into the backyard, so I went in there and tried the patio door. I walked back to the front and passed a man who may have been looking at me suspiciously as he walked by. I contemplated how Wag walkers explain themselves if questioned by police. I sat on the front steps and waited.
Wag responded and said they had no info either and would try to get in touch with the client, who had failed to fill out the info. They gave me the client's phone number to try too, so I called and left a voice mail. No luck all around. While waiting, I asked how to handle my first walk. I wasn't sure if I get paid for doing the walk after that, but I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get dinged for a no-show or something. After a little discussion, they moved the walk to 3:00 so I could log it then when I went back. Yay!
Twenty minutes after the start time, I let Wag know I was going to my third walk. They said that was find and they would mark it as cancelled and give me the $10 short-notice cancellation fee for walkers. I wondered what was going to go wrong with my third walk. Fortunately, the answer was nothing. It was my fourth time visiting those two cute little fluffballs, and all went pretty smoothly. At one point, I was leaning down to adjust a harness and somehow the leash clip popped loose. I'm not sure what that was about, but I quickly dove for the ground and grabbed the dog. No real fear of losing him, but I did manage to tear a hole in my jeans and scrape my knees slightly. We had a nice little walk on the beach. Grover decided to roll in some bits of leaf, but I think I got most of them out of his fur. I got face-licks from Cookie as usual; yay!
I biked back to walk Vega, who was actually just a block away. I got back into the unit, let her out, and watched her start making puddles on the floor again. I figured if I stopped to clean up, she'd make messes as quickly as I could clean, so I got her leash on and rushed her outside.
We had a nice half-hour walk around the neighborhood. Puppies are just adorable! Everything is wonderful and fascinating! They don't quite understand how their bodies work or how big they are. Vega tried three different openings in a barred fence separating her from some pigeons before concluding she wouldn't fit. An elderly woman with a lot of dog experience stopped to interact with her. Vega was scared of a lot of things at first, but warmed quickly.
When the time was up, I walked Vega back to her building and tried again to figure out which door it was. The client asked that we use the back door to avoid annoying the landlord, and I knew it was on a fourth floor landing. I thought it was the middle set of stairs, so I started up them and Vega balked. I cajoled and encouraged, but to no avail. So I picked her up and walked up the four flights, where I arrived at the wrong door. That dog was clearly smarter than me. After we climbed back down and walked over to the next stairway, she happily climbed it with me.
We got back in and I gave her one of the treats the client told me were in the fridge for her. While she ate, I cleaned up the pee that was around. Finishing that, I filled out my report card for her people, and put her back in her crate. As I did, she peed on the floor again. So I closed her crate, cleaned up again, and left for home.
On the way up in the elevator in my building, I leaned heavily against the wall and then rested my head against the elevator panelling. That felt kind of funny, and I realized I have a small bump where I hit my head on that fence. Of course, when I got into the condo, Piper insisted on going for a walk!
I'm pretty tired, but in an hour we have a school colleague of Danae's coming over in for the first time for games, so I have to do some cleaning! And he likes Factorio too!