For this chapter of my life I am living on a farm owned by my sister and her husband. I take care of the farm animals as part of my agreement and daily chores and they take care of their side business which is breeding prize-winning Havanese dogs. 

I kind of made it built into my initial deal that I wouldn’t take care of the dogs but occasionally it becomes necessary. This weekend my sister is away selling beef on the coast and her husband is on the injured list and not able to do the main chores. I wasn’t totally aware how grueling the daily process of taking care of a bunch of dogs is. There is shit everywhere that has to be cleaned up once or twice a day and a huge regiment of feeding and checking the water but it’s mainly the shit that gets tedious. 

I’m used to doing very little during the day. I go down to the farm in the morning and later in the afternoon to make sure the cows and the horses have water and hay and feed the chickens and the cats but there is very little cleaning maintenance required by those animals. I do understand that I should probably be cleaning the chicken coop more often but not a daily process. 

When you breed dogs you have a lot of them. We also have bordered dogs that are owned by other people and have special requirements for eating so there are currently six different areas with dogs in them that need attention constantly. Havanese dogs are very friendly and happy dogs and just being around them makes you smile but when there are several together and new puppies among them the noise can get on your nerves quite quickly. Especially when you’re doing something like cleaning up their poo and you’re around them but not really next to them. They demand attension in a loud way.

I finished that chore just now around noon and come downstairs to enjoy little relaxation but they continue to Yelp and playfight among themselves. 

I also have to keep the fire going in our wood burning furnace and that’s something I’ve never had to do before. I’m not very good at it. I don’t really like fire I’m learning. 

I’m taking a midday break before I do the rest of the shit pick up and I have to make sure I wash my hands pretty clean before I make my lunch. 

It’s hard to believe they enjoy this enough to do it every single day, day after day, week after week. It’s no wonder they all go away for short breaks regularly. I never really vacation together which I am grateful for. It’s a weird setup. Occasionally they do get away together as they did last weekend to celebrate Christmas with their daughter and they had someone come in to do the chores. Now that they’ve learned I can do it I’m sure they will use me more often. 

I’d like to say I didn’t inferior job on purpose but that’s just not me. I’m perfectly capable of doing an inferior job while trying my best. I just noticed I left some of the cheese out this morning that is part of a specialty diet for one of the new mothers that has recently given birth to yet another litter. 

They do this everyday. Amazing. Havanese are awesome dogs, but more so in your home. One or two would be ideal