We’ve had our friend Dave staying for a couple of days this week, while he helps us out with some plastering in our spare room. He’s an old college friend and lives about 2 hours drive away, so whenever he does any work for us he usually stays over, to save driving back late at night. He’s been promising to do the plastering for weeks now, but has been really busy with work. However, he had some free days this week and was able to fit us in. There was just one catch though – his wife had the flu, so he wanted to bring his two dogs with him so she didn’t have to worry about walking them.
That wasn’t a problem with me. I love having pets around – so long as they’re well-trained and behave themselves that is! I’d not met Scooby and Bobby before, but knew from what Dave had told me that they were both big dogs (a spaniel and a border collie). Of course, the bigger the dog, the more hairs they’ll leave all over the carpet and furniture. So, I took precautions and dug out my sofa slipcovers that are specifically labelled as “pet-friendly”.
These sofa covers are great if you’ve got a dog or cat that likes to sleep on your couch, as they are made from cotton duck. This is a wonderful fabric that can be washed in the machine again and again, and can take all kinds of abuse – from muddy paw prints to doggy dribble.
Boy, am I glad I fitted those slipcovers before Dave and the dogs arrived! As soon as they got here, Dave took them out for a quick run, as they’d been cooped up in the car for 2 hours. They didn’t go far, but it’d been raining all night and there were muddy puddles all over the place. Inevitably Scooby and Bobby got wet mud all over the long fur on their bellies and legs. Dave was very apologetic as they ran into my hallway, and he did attempt to wipe off the worst of the dirt with an old towel.
We decided it would be best to confine the dogs to the hallway while they dried out, so I put an old blanket on the floor for them to lie on, while Dave made a start on his work. Anyway, someone must’ve not closed the lounge door properly, as about 30 minutes later I found both the dogs in there happily snuggled up on my sofa!!!
They looked so comfortable I didn’t have the heart to move them – I felt a bit sorry for them being away from their home. And that was that – for the rest of Dave’s stay with us, the dogs used the sofa as their bed. The cotton slipcover was rather grubby by the end of their stay, but I wasn’t too worried as I knew I could pop it straight in the washing machine. Dave did a great job with the plastering and now they’ve gone, the house seems strangely empty without Scooby and Bobby making themelves at home on the sofa!