Saturday Strategies Hi, Everyone! (Or, as the cats would say in their own blog, “Hai, Effurryone!”) 
It is Saturday once again. Not sure where the week goes, starting out on Monday, it seems to loom ahead like an impossible mountain range and we long for the weekend. Somehow, the next thing we know, it is the weekend. All too often, we are caught unprepared with no particular plans..after all…how do you plan for something as far away as the weekend seems to be on a Monday? LOL
Seriously, though, many of us find ourselves with little or no recreation planned because the weekend slot seems to be filled with household chores relegated to Saturday for lack of weekday time to complete. Just when you were going to play with your kitty, or take pooch for a stroll, the vacuuming looms its ugly head. Or you have to wash the car, or some other odious task that does not seem, at the outset, to include pet play or exercise time.
Not to worry–your pets can help! Well, maybe not in the way we would define help, but they can certainly help lighten the load by lifting your mood and spirit, helping you get through the tasks in record time.
Many dogs love to play in the water (when the weather warms up!) Let them “help’ you wash the car by catching stray sprays of water. I once had a dog that thought it was just too much fun to “help” me water the plants by chasing and snapping at stray water droplets as they flew through the air. This was amusing to see, and made me focus much less on how much time the task was taking.
Indoors, there is a bit more challenge, but again, your pets may end up with exercise without even realinzing it. This same dog would vigorously ‘defend’ his territory against the vacuum monster by barking, jumping and pouncing at the machine on each pass. He would wait in front of me, and on the forward stroke, tail wagging furiously, and leap, bark and pounce. Good exercise for him; great amusement for me.
With the cats, this is not so likely to happen. They are far more likely to run and hide from the noisy beast. Not to worry. The kitties will very much enjoy “helping” with the broom on the hard-surface floors. I have two that think a broom is a fine toy. Ok, I’ll admit…it can be a bit of a nuisance, and sometimes adds to the time I spend on the task; especially the one kitty who finds it absolutely mandatory to walk precisely through the dust pile I have just collected, right before I can sweep it into the dust pan. Nonetheless, they make me smile, and that is the kind of help to which I refer. Lighten the load by lightening your mood. If there is someone else in the house while this is going on, get them to take a picture to remember their antics.
One day, a wild thought entered my head, and I tied a sturdy string to one of their toys, and the other end onto my rear belt loop. Naturally, the toy ‘followed’ me around, and the cats, in turn, chased the toy all over the house. What a great game!
Now, go enjoy your Saturday chores with your new helpers!
Tags: cats, chores, dogs, exercise, helpers, housework, toys, weekend