Noel was born on Christmas Day 2014. She is a snuggle bug. Loves her new home at Chi Chi’s Farm in Sorrento, Florida
Christmas Baby Goat
Sometimes life is just hard. Especially when the unexpected turns out to be tragic news. It can turn life inside out and upside down. It makes you reflect on the people you have in your life and what they mean to you. What about when this happens with one of your beloved four-legged family members. It is just as difficult to cope with and the pain is heart wrenching.
I recently found out that one of my beloved four-legged doggie’s that I walk died. Totally unexpected. We all thought that she would get better. Molly was still full of life and young. I remember our last walk together like it was yesterday. I knew she was on medicine and there were a few health problems but nothing to be overly alarmed about. I told her how much joy she brought to my life and that I would miss her and hoped to see her again. Molly was moving to North Carolina, so I wanted our last week together to be as special as possible. It was I’m happy to say. We went on brisk walks and she did her most favorite thing. Chasing squirrels. I will miss you Molly. You were truly one of a kind.
Molly. Sweet, Gentle & Loving. You Will Be Missed..
Spotty Spots @ 1 month old
Spotty Spots is 2. He’s happy and health and still by Snuggles side living the life in Sorrento.
Meet Romeo and Hunter. They are in need of forever homes. They currently live together but unfortunately they need new forever homes. If they can stay together that would be wonderful but the most important thing is they find forever homes.
Romeo
5 or 6-year-old Mastiff mix approximately 80 lbs.
Jillian rescued him two years ago from a ranch. He was chained to a chair and she believes he grew up there. He is so sweet, gentle and has bad hips from being chained to the chair. He may possibly have arthritis. The vet says he’s about five or six years old but he has the personality of a much older dog. He is a lover. The name Romeo suits him well. He loves people and is very good with children and other animals. He is not very active and his legs will get sore if he plays too hard or walks too much. He is happiest when laying in the sun and is not a high maintenance dog. He does get spouts of energy and will run around the yard and play. Loyal, gentle and loving. Jillian has a 15-month-old son who can crawl all over him, fall on him, ride him and all he does is wag his tail.
Romeo is very very sweet
This is Hunter and this is his story…
Hunter
Five year old black lab mix approximately 80 lbs.
Jillian got Hunter from the pound five years ago when he was four months old. Very active, well-behaved, and a sweet dog. Special needs with epilepsy. He is not on any medicine and has had about 5 or 6 seizures over the past five years. He loves to swim and loves to play ball. If he sees water he will try to dive right into it. He eats Purina dog chow because he gets food allergies when he eats other kinds of food. He is timid with babies and when cornered will growl and possibly bite. He is a big lap dog and loves lots of attention. He gets along well with other dogs but can get possessive with toys and treats/food.
Hunter looking for his forever home.
Maggie’s Critter Sitting Services has moved to the Sorrento area. We now service Sorrento, Mount Plymouth, Mount Dora and Eustis. All in Lake County. See our Pet Service Area page on our website. www.maggiescrittersitting.com I look forward to meeting bunches of new critters. I still will remain with all my original clients that are located in Maitland,
Winter Park, Longwood , Lake Mary, Casselberry, Ocoee, Apopka and Altamonte Springs.
I know I have been MIA with my weekly blogging but that is going to change. Back to blogging very soon. I have so much to tell all of you. I just had to get settled with the new house. Thanks for your patience. Blog at you soon.
I haven’t blogged in a while. I have been super busy with the summer time vacationers. For the past three weeks, I feel that I have been living in five different places, Altamonte Springs, Longwood, Maitland, Apopka and Sorrento. So I have decided that this is my last Monday blog for a while and will now do Tuesday and Thursday blogs only. Three blogs a week was just not working out every week.
I do have plenty of updates for you all. So here goes.
My daughter Christine moved out to an apartment in Orlando and with her went Dior our beloved Chihuahua Security. We miss her terrible and we know that she misses us but that’s another blog.
Once Chris was moved into her own place she adopted a black Lab. A puppy. His name is Chase and he is the most laid back puppy. He has so many similar traits to our beloved Booker. John and I feel just like grandparents but to the four-legged kind. Chris brings over Dior and Chase and sometimes her boyfriend Jimmy’s Boxer Bunker. That name is for all you golf lovers out there. Now Bunker is a completely different personality from Chase. He is a little over a year old while Chase is almost 6 months old.
Chase and Booker
Bunker is full of energy on land and in water. What I mean by that is when he swims, he tries his best to run in the water. It is hysterical to see. Chase is working on being a water dog. He’s still young and that will come with time.
Bunker and Chase After a swim in the pool
We love when they come and visit. There’s so much excitement in the air. To watch them all get along and play is just so awesome. Being a pet sitter, I can say that it is so nice to see so many different types of breeds get along and play so well together. We now have even more reasons to look forward to Sunday family dinner. Critters everywhere.
With all this rain the past few days, I have learned even more about some of my critters that I take on dog walks everyday. Most despise the rain, while there are a few exceptions out there. On Monday morning I arrived at Molly’s home for her dog walk in South Apopka. It was pouring. I don’t mind the rain. I look at it as I can always dry off. The dogs don’t care what I look like. That’s a good thing. Molly could have cared less that it was raining. She reminded me of a music video with the rain coming down and singing and dancing in it. She was so happy. It was play time for her. Our dog walk was a complete round the block blast and it brought the kid out in me again. As we walked I was jumping in puddles and letting the rain hit my face. It was awesome.
Then I went to see Oliver in Altamonte Springs. He loves his midday dog walk around his neighborhood. I know he gets stir crazy and it’s his release to go on a dog walk. Even though it was raining, Oliver didn’t care. At first, he tried to stay under the umbrella and then I saw the light bulb go off. He realized how much fun he could have running in all the puddles and wet grass. He had a ball. When I got to his house the next day and it wasn’t raining, I could almost see his disappointment.
Oliver " I fear no rain "
It doesn’t have to be difficult to get your dog to go out in the rain and do his business. Make it fun. Let your critter know that it’s ok if they get wet. Remember there are doggie rain coats out there and there’s always a great towel rub down to dry your baby off.
I have posted a few things on Facebook about Lily. Here is the whole story.
Dayna from Sorrento is always looking to save a dog in trouble. It just so happen that it came to her attention the deplorable conditions of the Putnam County Animal service center. Dayna told me that the facility was so bad that this one is like taking the dogs from the streets and putting them in even worse conditions. Now you know that place is horrific if Dayna is saying that.
Lily fighting for her life. Please keep praying. It's working.
Lily was saved June 15th, 2012. Lily was a stray and was near death. One of Dayna’s volunteers agreed to go pick her up after the weekend but once the description was given of Lily, Dayna knew she would not make it through the weekend. Dayna decided to take the 2 hour drive after work and rush her to the emergency vet. After an hour and a half drive to the vet, Lily was given a blood transfusion and lots of fluids. Lily was only 3 lbs. It was a start. She had a will to live but was she strong enough to fight. She was covered in fleas, had a staph infection on her skin, full of intestinal worms and anemic. Dayna’s vet even brought her a bag of fluids to her home so that Dayna could inject the fluids under the skin. She was in desperate need of those fluids to survive the weekend. By Sunday she was able to lift her head and was eating and drinking.
Lily sitting up real good on her own.
On Monday, Dayna’s she took Lily to her regular vet in Longwood. Several test were done and that’s when we found out that Lily had Parvo.
It was heartbreaking. We just didn’t know if she had the fight in her to beat the odds of this wicked virus. Lily spent several days at the vet and it was important that Lily hold her own. So far she has. Lily is back at Dayna’s, recovering and is on plenty of medicines and is getting stronger with each day. Once she is given a clean bill of health, she will be fixed and then we will start looking for a forever home for her. She is super special. I get to see her tomorrow and can’t wait to take her on a little dog walk. As a pet sitter, this is so rewarding to see this little girl grow stronger with each day. I’ll keep you all posted on her recovery. Thanks for all the prayers.
Meet Petunia and Paisley. They both have two very different stories but now have a new home in Sorrento. I like to call them Wilbur’s new girlfriends. Once they meet Wilbur will be so excited to spend time with them in the yard. I knew he is over the goats picking on him.
Wilbur
Petunia’s Story:
Petunia was born on January 14th, 2012 from a not so wonderful breeder. Since she was never sold she spent the first 5 months of her life in the back of a trailer that was enclosed on all sides except for one back side was open. When Dayna went to get her it was a hot and smelly. Believe it or not what you think about pigs smelling bad is wrong. They don’t smell bad and do like clean bedding and such. She was in a very small pen with 3 other pigs. The rest of the trailer had 2 moms with 8 babies each. She was cheap because the breeders just wanted to get rid of her to make room for more babies to sell. She has a skin infection all over that requires a special bath and lotion. She also has coccidia which requires med for 21 days and isolation from Wilbur and Paisley. She is sweet but has a fear of humans because of the lack of contact. So Dayna and I are going to change all that for her. She will be loved and given lots of attention, so that she knows she is safe. Dayna is working on getting her healthy in order to get her spayed.
Paisley’s Story:
Paisley is only 17 weeks old. The family that had her had to give her up because the mom had to go back to work and just didn’t have the proper time to care for her anymore. She is potty trained. The other day I took her for a dog walk “aka” pig walk and she was just like a dog. She followed me out the door and went to the grass and made potty. She also uses the litter box. Pretty awesome right? She is super smart and is so gentle and loving. She answers to her name, lets Dayna and I pick her up with hardly any fuss, and comes when you call her. She loves to be around people and will follow you all over the house. She use to sleep in the bed with her other family, so Dayna let her sleep in the bed with her and not a single accident. She just slept through the night. She has a few skin issues and needs to be spayed. He previous family never had her vaccinated, so once the vet gives the all clear she will get vaccinated. This is a real special little girl. I look forward to many more dog walks with her. Sorry pig walks.
Paisley. Hope she and Wilbur hit it off.
Since posting this story Dayna found another home for Petunia. She and Wilbur just didn’t get along. We have high hopes for him and Paisley.
The hardest day I have ever had as a pet sitter was on that Tuesday. A week ago. I was at Dayna’s in Sorrento and I was in the main house. That’s when I heard the dogs just going crazy with their barking. I opened the back door and the barking just sounded different. It was without a doubt a warning bark. That one of them was in trouble. I started to run and that’s when I heard it. One of the goats was screaming for their life. Just like with dogs you can identify your dogs bark, well goats are the same way.
This day I couldn’t tell who it was because I never heard the sound of a Baaah in pain. I never ran so fast. I reached the first goats stall and they were all there and alive. Then I reach the second goats stall and I could see only three of them. So I lead over the half-door and that’s when I saw it. One of the newly rescue dogs had somehow got out of its dog run and was attacking Thumbelina. I opened that door and grabbed that dog to get him off of her. The goats ran out of their stall for their lives.
Snuggles and Spotty Spots
Once I got the dog secured I was able to get a good look at the goats. That’s when I realized Snuggles had taken the worst beating by the dog. Under his chin was a chunk of flesh gone and I could see straight to his muscle and bone. There were bite holes all over their necks. They were going into shock. I gave them water and I called Dayna and she told me to put a little corn syrup in their mouths. I don’t know how I did it but I managed to get all three of them in a pretty small crate. I met Dayna halfway to the vet in Maitland. I was heartbroken, scared and so angry at that dog for trying to kill them. He had the taste of blood and he was trying his best to kill the goats. I know he would have if someone wasn’t there to stop him. I cried for hours. That night when I got home my husband looked at me and said to me that as long as I have been a pet sitter I have never come home looking so bad. So I went to look at myself in the mirror and I had hay, goat bedding, goat poo and blood all over me. I didn’t mind any of it as long as the goats lived. For all of you who said prayers for the goats thank you because they were answered. The goats are recovering and will be just fine. The dog had to go back to the shelter. There was no other choice. Never a dull moment as a dog walker.
