Can I Clone Her? Seriously!!

For Labor Day weekend, we had the opportunity to dog sit for our neighbors, Chad and Ruth, for about 4 days. Ruth came by earlier in the week asking if I would help her out of a little pickle by sitting for Marin, their golden retriever. I didn't mind, and of course, Greg didn't even have to think about it. We had been around Marin before and knew she was a good tempered dog and great around kids, which is quite proven since Chad and Ruth have two little girls close in age to my own.

Marin came over on Saturday afternoon with her dog bowl and food container,and a very nicely typed list entitled "Care Pointers for Marin." I have to say it was more detailed than what I leave the babysitter. My lists usually contain a cell phone number and the message "Call me if you need me." The last time I left the kids, I got a call from Greg who happened to be in Zambia at the time, asking why the babysitter was calling him in the middle of the night. I guess that would be my fault since I gave her the wrong cell number. So it was quite nice to have such a detailed list for Marin that I was able to post on the fridge. Honestly, I referred to it on more than one occasion.

Marin immediately fell in step with our family, sticking close to Greg and playing with the kids. She is 11 years old, so she's not a spring chicken anymore, but she still has some pep in her step. Taylor walked her on the track every evening and Hayden, as you can see, played ball with her. I believe it was more of Hayden doing the fetching as Marin just sat there staring at him. It was great until Hayden decided he wanted to chew on the tennis ball and then fetch time was over. The girls fell in love with her and even Riley, who was skiddish in the beginning, was wanting Marin to sleep in bed with her.

I realized how wonderful it is to have a dog in the house again, but then after seeing Riley step barefoot in some Marin leftovers, I decided we need a MUCH bigger yard, preferably one that comes with a kid-free dog zone. Plus the fact that we have a no pets policy on our lease kind of hinders our dog plans. But one day we hope to have our own.

Enjoy the photos of this beautiful dog. She is the sweetest and was so wonderful to the kids.