A Sitter for Harlow

We’re heading to a wedding this weekend in Kansas City and Harlow’s regular dog sitter is out of town so that left us in a bit of a pickle. He can’t do doggy hotels, we’ve tried and he comes home traumatized. I don’t know what happens there, but I have a feeling Harlow instigates it and probably deserves a little of whatever is thrown his way.

Or perhaps he just hates doggy hotels because he has to go a few nights without having a warm human to sleep on top of, or 100 blankets to snuggle under. Whatever the case, I’ll sell as many t-shirts as necessary to make sure Har is well taken care of whenever we leave town.

Enter Rover. From what I’ve gathered, Rover is a site where you can find dog walkers/sitters/ext that are people just like you and I. Seems like a pretty great idea to me since I would always rather have Harlow stay in a house than at a boarder. So we decided to give it a shot on Monday and do a meet and greet with a potential Rover sitter for Harlow. It was like a blind date but with Harlow along. Also, I’ve never been on a blind date so I can’t be certain, but I have a feeling it’s close.

We met in her building in the Gold Coast. She was sweet and young and wearing a sorority sweatshirt. We rode up the elevator to the 8th floor, walked into her apartment, she said her furniture was dog friendly which was great, but Harlow took one look around the place and then looked at me, and politely said “no thanks, let’s go.” He swiped left, if you will.

He just didn’t get good vibes, he said. I was surprised, she seemed really sweet. But what Harlow wants Harlow gets.

Truthfully, the only thing that put me off was the fact that she never really interacted with Harlow during our short meet and greet/blind date. When I meet a new dog I have a reunion with it as if I’ve known (and missed) the dog for ten years. I get on the floor, I rub my face in its ears, I roll around. And writing that I’m realizing that okay maybe I’m the one with the problem. But still… Still?

Chris was waiting for us in the car and asked, “so how did it go?”


“She was sweet,” I said.

“But?“

“But Harlow just didn’t feel comfortable there. We’re going to have to find something else for this weekend.”


And then we drove off both laughing at the fact I’m insane, and that my closeness to Harlow only gets worse as each day goes on…

Luckily my friend Audrey is coming to the rescue and will stay with Harlow all weekend. When Audrey comes over Harlow does his wiggle dance for at least ten minutes and brings her only his favorite toys, so I know he’s in good hands with her. Also, I just think Har does better in his own home, with his own couch, and his own smells.

And by Har, I mean I do. I do better when we’re away knowing Harlow is safe at our house.

And now for a few of Harlow’s weekend favs.

Please feast your eyes on this doggy bike trailer from Solvit. It is so high quality and safe, and just an all around awesome product to have for your dog and yourself. The day I got this in the mail was like Christmas.

But Harlow isn’t quite sure of it just yet… I am just dying to go on lake bike rides with Harlow cruising behind me in this, but he’s not ready. We’re treat coaching him at the moment to make him feel comfortable in it. He’ll sit in it at home, but he prefers I sit in it with him… I know we’ll get him to love it eventually, but I think another trick may be to start pups in this right away when they’re young. Or maybe just don’t have a velcro dog like Harlow who insists you be right by his side at all times.

Long story short, if you’re a biker and a dog lover, I can’t rave enough about how cool this product is. Find the entire line here.

And then there’s Harlow’s new Rock ‘N Roll bowl from Paw5. “Part bowl, part puzzle.” I put a video on snapchat of Harlow using his new bowl, but basically you pour the food on top and watch as your dog has to use his problem solving skills to knock the food out.

I’m not a vet, but this seems like a great bowl for any dog that goes nuts the moment food is in his bowl and can’t guzzle his food down fast enough. Helps them slow down a bit while also challenging them to solve “the puzzle.”

Speaking of dogs, did you see the update on the pit bull ban? It’s not over, but it’s looking very good! Our voices and signatures worked!

 And that’s a quick update of my favorite dog items at the moment, what cool dog products are you loving right now?