I skipped a day of uni to dog-sit and it was the best decision of my life

How much do you miss your dog?

If, like me, you're reading this article, and thinking, hell yeah that’s me, I miss Rufus with a passion, then here are my tips on how to procrastinate and do some pet appreciating at the same time.

Here's bae.

Introducing Rosie, a six-year-old dog with no clear breed, but a clear purpose to be the sweetest dog around. I’ve been taking care of her once a week for a while now, and here's what happened when I chose her over uni.

The drop off

A slightly unglamorous thing about dog sitting is that Rosie’s owner had to get to work at a decent time, so she got dropped off at my flat at 7:30 am. She dutifully followed me upstairs and curled up on her blanket as I retreated back to bed for a few hours. Rosie needed her beauty sleep, okay? And let me tell you – she’s a snorer.

GOOD GIRL

The cute walk

We walked over to Bermondsey park and she sniffed every tree, every leaf and every stick that could possibly have attracted a dog’s attention. She’s thorough, that one.

The abandoned poo bag

While waking up at 7:00 am to let a dog in your flat isn’t exactly the best, picking up their poo in the middle of the street is the part I’m less fond of. I’ve gotten better at this, but there was an incident on a windy night on Waterloo bridge that shall not be spoken of…

Balls

After our beauty sleep and our walk, me and Rosie were ready for a bit of an adventure. With my own football match cancelled, we trekked all the way to Berrylands to provide the fluffiest of cheer squads to the first team. That made Rosie’s day: If she fails in her sniffing career she has football to fall back on.

The big snooze

That evening I waited for her owner to pick her up curled up with her on my tiny tiny couch that is definitely not made for a human and a big dog (or, you know, two humans). I put Sherlock on, made some tea, Rosie ate her meaty mush and we had a cozy night in.

A mood

That was unfortunately interrupted by Rosie’s actual owner coming to pick her up.

What you can take away from this wholesome experience is: Dog sitting gives you the pleasure of hanging out with a dog, without the commitment of having to worry about them all the time.

But it does have its heartbreaking moments – like when they get picked up and you’re suddenly dogless and your couch has a lot of dog hair on it. Oh, and all the lecture captures you have to now watch.

Right in the feels

Well, until next time, Rosie!