Dogs Are as Dedicated to Your Writing as You Are!

My favorite job to this day is being a dogsitter and I'm not too shy to say that it's because I had more contact with dogs than humans.

A favorite storyline of mine is in my second manuscript. It's about a girl, Reagan, who runs a dogsitting business in her town so she can get paid to couch surf and avoid her home life. Takes one to write one, so I got to the hard work of hanging out with dogs.

And dogs are where it's at. I would throw a frisbee with a weimeraner, sing with Huskies, snuggle with a terrier mix, explore a huge backyard with two English Labs, learn how to hide pills from a Chihuahua very well, and have regular sleepovers with a Dalmation-Pitbull mix that was a gentleman and a scholar.

I could make my own schedule and charge whatever rate I wanted and I was paid handsomely to play with the dogs. I was happy to offer premier care in medication administration, senior dog knowledge, and the eagle-eye of finding and removing sneaky ticks. Imagine going to work knowing that every dog that saw you was going to be bonkers excited to see you. It was a great boost in self-esteem.

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And a great writing exercise too! I created little short stories to summarize my visits with the dogs and text them over to their humans:

Gracie:

    We started off with what I like to call a “smell download.” Gracie got to smell the Dalmatian, pitties, labs, and Shih Tzu I saw today.

    Then, when it was time to play, Gracie pointed out that my throw could use some practice. She very graciously brought back the ball every time. She sees no improvement but has hope for me yet. Gracie moved onto something more my speed: the yellow frisbee. She doesn’t go easy on me. Good coaches don’t.

Olive:

    When Olive sees me now, she sees a frisbee in her future. No hi’s, no how are ya’s, just leading to the back door-wall to start the fun lol

    We worked on her frisbee etiquette as far as barking to get me to throw the frisbee. She caught on quickly to wait quietly and we had a ball of a time. Olive was keen to my fakeouts and caught the frisbee nearly every time. We took a water break inside so she could catch her breath. The second round of frisbee was just as fun with a patio cool down to close out our time.

Winston:

    Winston has been very diligent in making sure I take breaks on this mini writer’s retreat of mine. This break was a walk! The sun finally showed up for it too! A dog, or a large cat, has been pooping along the sidewalks up and down the street. I’m sure some neighbor’s aren’t happy about that but Winston was geeked. It was like a scavenger hunt, he was even drooling. 😅 Outside of that he was very peppy and had lots to smell. He said hi to your birdwatching neighbor but was more interested in other poo lying around. Dogs lol

Bo and Bomber:

    There was a break in the rain so we started our visit off with a casual stroll in the drizzle. Bushes were smelled and flowers were watered (just to be sure). When the rain picked up, we headed into the garage. The monkey was fun to play tug with until Bo performed a mandibular osteotomy on his face. The monkey was sent to the infirmary (laundry room) for tests. We played with a tennis ball instead. Bomber was his best cheerleader.

    Then, he focused on setting up for a sit-in. I wasn’t expecting one with the rain, but Bomber has plans for every situation. He planted himself at the opening of the garage and made himself comfy. I asked him if he wasn’t getting enough treats or pets. He just looked outside at the rain. Perhaps Bo was offering sage advice that we should all stop and watch the rain sometimes. Perhaps he was giving me the silent treatment until I gave him a treat. Back inside, he quickly laid back down. Philosophizing sure tires him out.

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The visits kept me on my toes with being aware of what was going on, how to get the plot of the visit summary to flow, and how to properly portray the many personalities of Dog™.

The dogs were always excellent writing partners. Pups that I stayed overnight with didn't mind my weird writing hours. They were always more than happy to rot on the couch with me while I binged the movies and documentaries I used for story research. I tossed a ball with a golden retriever over and over and over (and over and over) again while working out my writer's block. I was regularly reminded by the canines that I needed to take a healthy break from looking at a screen and go for a walk with them.

Dogs are as dedicated to your writing as you are!

So, in closing, after two and a half years of research, I conclude that if one hangs out with more dogs, the likelihood of improving your writing increases.*

Say hi to your dog for me,

Katherine Arkady

*This statement is not to be used as a

bargaining tool to your partner that you should get

another dog. Don't put me in the middle of this ❤️