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For all my dog-loving friends

If you leave a comment, Russel will visit your blog and comment. This morning's inspection found me and the Realtor alone by ourselves since our Clients are in Washington, D.C., (wife) and on board the USS Ronald Reagan (husband).

We were told that there would be a dog at the inspection but we weren't told whether it was big, little, mean, friendly, whatever.

Fortunately, I'm a pet person and I know how to make friends very quickly with dogs.

The doormat wasn't encouraging, though, since a corner had been chewed off:

Beware of Dog

We rang the doorbell and entered carefully, not knowing what to expect. Nothing.

"Maybe they decided to take the dog after all," I said.

"Good," Mr. Realtor said.

I was secretly hoping that we would still find the dog.

So I proceeded to make note of the room locations, and when I entered the master bedroom, here's what I saw:

Mrs. Dog

Dogs have pretty good hearing, especially big dogs, so I was concerned that this big dog didn't even acknowledge us being in his home. I walked to the other side and saw this:'

Mrs. Dog, with one eye open

Notice that she does have one eye open, and that one ear just has to be listening to us, right?

Mrs. Dog's eye and ear

I did finally get Mrs. Dog to sit up and give me a few swipes with her big ol' tongue, and once she decided that she had enough, she laid back down, at which time I got the following pictures.

First, I focused on her eye.

Mrs. Dog

Then I focused on her nails:

Mrs. Dog

Then I went for just a picture of a big ol' nail:

Mrs. Dog

For those who are wondering, Mrs. Dog is a Rhodesian Ridgeback. You can see her ridge in that first picture.

*****

This week's posts

What do Chinese drywall and football have in common? - 7/1/09
WWW (Wordless Wednesday with Words): Flap your wings and off you go! - 6/30/09
The mostest helpfullest Seller ever! - 6/30/09
Bigger is not always better - 6/30/09
My mostest uniquest foundation crawl space ever - 6/29/09
My uniquest attic ever - 6/29/09

Last week's posts

SST (Speechless Sunday with Text): How to increase your home insurance premium - 6/28/09
How to easily help your house burn down - 6/27/09
I don't inspect heliports - 6/26/09
ActiveRain commenting etiquette: HELP! - 6/26/09 (Featured)
How to make the most of your day - 6/25/09
WWW (Wordless Wednesday With Words): It's nice to be taken care of - 6/24/09
Why we need tort reform - 6/23/09
Your electrical panel is not there to cause problems, it's there to prevent them - 6/22/09
Unsolvable problems? Look at it differently. The answer is there. - 6/22/09

Previous week's posts

Is this not the most beautiful lizard you have ever seen in your life? - 6/21/09
A California home inspection first for me - 6/21/09
SST (Speechless Sunday with Text): You take my chair, I take your pillow.... - 6/21/09
ActiveRain brings us back together after a six-year split - 6/20/09
Balboa Park water lily slide show - 6/20/09
Viking Range refrigerator recall - 6/20/09
Foto Friday: It just takes a little balance. I know I can do it. - 6/19/09
Camera review: Canon EOS Rebel XSi - 6/18/09
WWW (Wordless Wednesday with Words): Takin' it easy - 6/17/09
How to have fun when the Realtor is late.... - 6/16/09
Do you have a yellow thingy? - 6/15/09

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Posted by Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector on 07/02/2009 04:44 PM

Comments (21)

Pets Are People Too in the ActiveRain Channel

dogs, pets

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21 Comments on For all my dog-loving friends

JUL

Russel - you are just to funny, beautiful dog and I love the close up of the claw (Not)!

Not a good idea to leave a dog loose in a home... it is their job to be the leader of the pack and protect the home. You were lucky this time, but it is not a safe practice.

HI Russel,

Looks like you lucked out. That dog looks pretty friendly. I once went into a house and a dog was in it, he was about the size of a chipmunk. I opened the door and he ran out, 12 blocks later, we had him under control. That was a fun showing! :)

-Lisa

I've found the bigger the dog the more of a pussycat they are. It's the little ones you have to watch. This big guy is lovely.

Russel, pretty cute! Those are beautiful dogs. Great post I have to say, you are too funny!

Hi Russel,

What a beautiful big dog! Cute post Russel! Thank you for the smile!

Rita

Hilarious Russel! Bet you weren't expecting that! Great watch dog eh? Looks like Marmaduke! Thanks for letting us check out her nails! Where's the French manicure?

Good thing she was not a ferocious dog -- all the best for the holiday ahead.

Watching eye lids maybe? Looks like she was very comfy and was not going to move for much - lol ~Rita

JUL

Russel..............Beware...........Woof!!!

Russell, I think she was just exhausted from all the comings and goings. "Watching" a house can be very exhausting work! Too cute, and thanks for sharing.

Beware of that dog? That's pretty funny. She's beautiful, and more a lover than a fighter, I'd bet.

Russel, sometimes the smaller the dog, the louder the bark.

JUL

Russel,

What a pussycat? That must have been the only reason the sellers left her home alone..either that or she was sedated!! Happy July 4th!!

Hey, Robert - I thought you'd really like that puppy dog claw! LOL

Hey, Joan - Ah, shucks. She's just a big, beautiful puppy. LOL

Hey, Lisa - That happened to me once with a cat. Unfortunately, cat's like to climb. We simply had to call the listing agent and let them know that the cat got out. She was furious, wanting to know why we didn't read the caution note on the front door. Well, there wasn't a caution note on the front door.

Hey, Susan - Yep. It's those little yapper snappers that one has to be aware of.

Hey, Andrea and Rita - I can only be funny if I have the materials to work with.

Hey, Al and Peggy - I also thought that she needed a more professional pedicure.

Hey, Bob and Carolin - So far I've been able to make friends with all the big, ferocious dogs. However, I have never tried with a pit bull or a Doberman. All other dogs I'm comfortable with.

Hey, Rita - Not even a bark, though, to let us know that she was there or to acknowledge that she knew someone was in the house. Just a big ol' softy.

Hey, Caren - Even after I showed the Realtor what a softy she was, the Realtor wasn't too happy that a big dog was in the house while we were doing a home inspection.

Hey, Terry - I think you're right. Zoey the Cool Cat gets all tuckered out from watching the comings and goings around here.

All tuckered out from watching the comings and goings.

Hey, Susan - If she's a fighter, I wouldn't want to be around to see just exactly what motivated her to fight. It must take a lot.

Hey, Rich - I do tend to be a little more cautious around the yapper snappers. I think it might have something to do with me being so much bigger than they are, which might frighten them more, whereas I'm just as big as these big dogs, so we're on even footing.

Hey, Dorie - I actually thought she might be sick, but when she finally woke up and decided to lick me to death, I knew she was okay. Just a big ol' softy.

Russel - you're really quite brave to walk in on a resting large dog like that! :-) I'm glad she was friendly.

Hey, Maureen - Most people make the mistake of walking in on a dog. It's better to crawl in so that the dog is bigger than you are and, therefore, less likely to attack. I crawled over to the dog. Also, if you're going to reach out to an unknown dog, definitely get down to dog level and carefully and slowly reach out the back of your hand, palm down. Once I did all the cautious stuff with no response, it was pretty obvious that this dog was a softy.

JUL

Russel,

What a beautiful dog! So calm and relaxed too! I can't believe that she didn't even get up when you entered the room! WOW! If more of them reacted like this our jobs would be much easier!

Judy

Russel, you had an appointment... so no need to get excited! Besides, maybe it was just too early to get up from her second round of nap...or third... or fourth? :-) Aside from the nail, you got a nice shot of the hair on her paw!

JUL

Russel, That was so cute, I was afraid something was wrong with the dog at first! Apparently it's not doing it's "job" -- I WANT them to bark when someone comes in.....just might scare an intruder. My neighbor was robbed TWICE in a year and the new alarm system they had put in didn't stop the theives. They bought a big, LOUD dog and never had another problem :)

DEC

That's one seriously big dog, but it looks like it's all dog and no bark.

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