We’re out of town this weekend, retracing the footsteps of Daniel Boone (kind of actually), and Fargo is at home, taking care of three sets of our friends—one each night. Here were their instructions, and please keep in mind that one of them has never cared for a dog before so this wasn’t completely overboard:
Dear friend,
Welcome to the Farg House. Here’s what to know:
Food & Drug Administration
Food
Fargo eats two meals a day, plus a bedtime snack to help her not wake you up with barf at 6:00 AM. Before breakfast and dinner, she takes a pill, but we’ll cover pills next.
- Breakfast: Two cups of dry food, food bag is in the tall cabinet to the left of the sink. Scoop is in there, each scoop is a cup, so two scoops. Also, one big spoonful of wet food, which we keep in the fridge once the can’s been opened (should be an open can in there right now). You can bury the pills in the wet food.
- Dinner: One and a half scoops of dry food, one big spoonful of wet food. You can bury the pill in the wet food.
- Snack: Half a scoop of dry food, one big spoonful of wet food. You can bury the pill in the wet food.
If the food runs out, there’s another bag in there, but make sure it hasn’t been opened and is the Rabbit & Potato one. Text us a picture if you’re worried about it being the wrong one.
Drugs
Fargo takes four drugs. These are them, when she takes them, what they do:
- Metoclopramide: One pill, twice a day, should be given ~30 minutes before breakfast and ~30 minutes before dinner. Keeps her stomach moving. We put this in a chunk of wet food to get her to eat it.
- Metronidazole: One pill, once a day, should be given with breakfast, snuck into the wet food. Helps her intestine with a recent flareup.
- Apoquel: Half a tablet (may have to break it yourself), twice a day, should be given with breakfast and with dinner, snuck into the wet food. Helps her recent skin irritation.
- Omeprazole: One capsule, once a day, should be given with her bedtime snack. Also helps avoid the 6:00 AM barf.
Harness/Leash
Her harness is a little weird to put on, but basically, the big loop goes around her neck, and then you put the T through her front legs and buckle the buckles on her shoulders. Pictures on the next page, the right-hand one shows the T hanging down in front of her before you put it between her legs and buckle it all up.
The leash clips onto the back of the harness.
Piss & Shit
Probably Will Pee on the Balcony, Probably Will Poop Back Behind the Building
She’ll usually pee and poop first thing in the morning, then go a few more times throughout the day, including one poop in the evening or late afternoon at some point. She’ll sometimes pee on the grass pad out on the balcony, but she usually insists on pooping down in the big grassy area behind the building (across [REDACTED]). There are poop bags clipped to her leash in the dispenser, and there should be another roll on the table next to the door. Let us know if you need more. If you don’t mind wiping her butt when you get home, there are some wipes on that table too, but this shouldn’t be a huge deal. She responds to “Go Potty” as a command, so if you aren’t sure if she needs to go, take her out back and say that to her a few times. She’ll go if she needs to.
Exploring
Two Walks, 30-60 Minutes Each, Watch Out for Her Eating Strange Things
Fargs usually takes two walks a day – one after her breakfast has settled (which takes 15-20 minutes), one after her dinner has settled. They’re usually 30-60 minutes, can be shorter if it’s blazing out. She’ll start sitting down a lot if she’s tired. Or if she’s scared of birds. Or if she’s just being a weirdo (if she sits down a bunch, go ahead and turn around). I usually walk her to and from [REDACTED] and just stay on [REDACTED], but you can do whatever.
Please do your best to keep her from eating strange things, like dead animals and littered food and mushrooms and poop. It’s for everybody’s best. If she does eat something weird, shouldn’t be a huge deal, but please let us know (she’ll eat some grass if she’s wound up—this isn’t that bad, but less grass in her belly is better).
She loves playing with other dogs, so go ahead and let her if you want to, but don’t feel bad if that’s too much. She loves jumping on people, so the less of that the better. Has been sniffing people’s butts lately, which is a big problem when they’re wearing a dress, so heads up on that. Might need to do a real short-leash situation.
Hangin’
Fargo’s allowed on the furniture. She might steal your shoes, so you may need to lock those up. Her favorite toys are the green and orange rubber balls. If she’s being a pain in the ass, which she often is, there are a couple special new toys in the left-hand drawer under the countertop next to her bed there in the corner. Specifically, there’s a split elk antler she should be able to chew without too much supervision. There are also a couple plastic/rubbery bones she can chew on, but if you use those please make sure she doesn’t swallow too much of them (if she does, it’s probably fine—do what you need to do).
The Crate: If You Want/Need to Leave, Overnight
Her crate’s in our bedroom. She’ll almost always go in if you coax her with some food (there’s kibble in the little canister on the table next to the door, if you don’t want to reach all the way down into the big bag). Overnight, we cover it with the quilt on top so light doesn’t get in and wake her up early. She might whine and bark and hit the crate with her paw a little, no worries if it lasts a couple minutes. If it lasts longer, she might have to go to the bathroom.
We don’t leave her unattended/uncrated in the apartment besides when we use the bathroom and shower. She gets too anxious if she isn’t in the crate.
Daycare: Monday
For daycare on Monday, the place is called [REDACTED], and she goes to the one up in [REDACTED]. Address is:
[REDACTED]
It’s a bit of a haul, so thanks for doing that. Dropoff can be anytime after 7:00 AM. Pickup can be anytime between 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. No need to walk her that day—she will get plenty of exercise. In the morning, just give her the metoclopramide, take her out to use the bathroom, feed her, wait 20 minutes or so, and take her. When you get her back on Monday, just let her use the bathroom, bring her upstairs, and leave her in the crate. We should be home before 8:00 PM, so she shouldn’t be in there longer than she can handle.
We have a seat belt for her that’ll buckle into your back seat and then clip onto her harness. We usually clip it onto the chest. She will need a boost into the car but you probably won’t have to full-on lift her in there.
House Stuff
Wifi: [REDACTED]
Password: [REDACTED]
The bedroom’s hot at night. We usually lower the thermostat by about five degrees to make it more tolerable. Thermostat’s by the TV and Coat Rack.
Clean sheets and towels are set out, you can change the sheets from the previous person if you want, but hey—no pressure.
Let us know if you have any questions at all, about Fargo or other stuff.
Stu’s number: [REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
Dean: Your volleyball shirt is on the island.
Help yourself to any food, drink, etc. If you’re ordering delivery food, the callbox code is [REDACTED].
