Author: team

Getting a dog at a young-ish age sounds like the perfect “mom come meet your grandson” (and it’s actually a dog) moment, because you get to play with the dog, you intend to go on long walks everyday and keep up with your healthy lifestyle, you feel like a little family (whether you have a partner or not) and can post cute pictures of the pup.
Growing up I always wanted a dog and would beg my parents to get one and that I would take care of him all the time. Now, 15 years later, I realize how stupid I was. Living alone is already a big conversion in life, but then also getting a dog is very hard. Luckily, Balou is a very well-behaved dog and will not pee on the carpet (although had some explosive diarrhea during the christmas holidays which ended up on our carpet AND his own little bed).

However, it is hard for one person (or even a couple) to keep up with a good routine for the dog. Balou needs 3 walks a day and gets his food in the morning and in the afternoon. Managing that with for example me going to university and being away all day and my partner being at work from either 4:00 to 13:00 or 12:00 to 21:30 is very difficult. Another disadvantage is for most people our age the hardest: going out. If you go out say at 21:00, you need to go for a walk with the dog because god knows when you will return back. Sleeping until noon is also not an option, because the dog needs to go for a walk again. If the dog is sick, he will probably need to go out at least 6 times per night, unless you want a messy and stinky carpet like ours.

For some people the “idea” of having a dog is more pleasing than actually owning a dog. If you are willing to overcome these “issues”, then let me tell you how much fun it is to own a dog. You get to play with him and fool around with him all the time, he will support you emotionally and going on walks seems like the perfect saturday evening mood!

It is not easy cleaning a big dog in the bathtub, especially when he starts shaking himself every 5 minutes. But as you can imagine, he is still very brave for sitting or standing in the bathtub for at least 15 minutes and lets the disaster pass by him until it’s over. Normally, we have a shampoo that is specifically for dogs, but most of the times we use baby shampoo, because it makes him smell like a big pile of baby floof. After we have tried to rub off any potential wetness (of course that’s impossible), he jumps out and shakes off even more excess wetness. In summer, we normally let him out on the balcony on his little bed with 2 towels for a few hours and give him a lot of treats because of how brave he was! In winter it’s a bit harder, as we don’t want to put him out in the cold for several hours, so we let him go on his bed with even more towels and try to watch him, so he doesn’t leave his bed until he is halfway dry. After 2-3 hours I decide that it’s time to blow-dry the pup and brush him once before we start the blow-drying session and once after. He does not quite like the warm air but he certainly loves to be brushed and starts leaning on me.
Twice a year, Balou gets a full make-over a.k.a. coming home as a bald little baby. As it costs a bit too much for us, we decided to buy a hair trimmer specifically for dogs. We still haven’t bought it, but we think that it would save up some time and money, because he is very well-behaved and lets you do everything. He does look very funny after a fresh trim, because he looks like he’s fully naked, but still has a big tail.

The hairdresser also trims his claws, cleans his ears and brushes his teeth. But as we do the same thing at home as well, we do not see the need of a hairdresser at this point.

Before you dive in too deep about cleaning rituals and “When does the dog need to go poo poo and peepee” I want to introduce my life as a former cat-person. I grew up in a household where cats were only allowed outside in a small shed and/or in the hall. I loved cats and I still do, but I was very much afraid of dogs. Fast forward to 2021, when I met my boyfriend. With a beautiful, cute (if I may say a bit overweight) Golden Retriever named Balou. Until this day, he is still the most well-behaved, loving, and gentle dog I have ever met. When I met my boyfriend, I just thought “How lucky am I to find a perfect match for me AND HE HAS A DOG??”. Well, it still applies, but shifting from a cat-person to a cat-and-dog-person has really changed my perspective on having a dog at home. I always thought, it must be sooo easy to have a dog, you go outside with them 2-3 times a day, give them food and that’s it. But yes, reality has tricked me. I now know how hard it is to live in the same household as a dog, and whether you are considering buying a big dog or have the same issues as me/us, I would like to very warmly welcome you to the disaster called my life.

Hello Friends! My father loved the jungle book as a child so this is how I got my name. BALOU. I am so happy to see you here! My mom started this website, because she loves me so much (and says that I am a bit too much work)! She will talk about how much she loves me, at what times I get my treats, when I get to have a fun time in the bathtub, but also about worse things: Brushing my teeth (yuck) and cleaning my ears!!! Can you believe that she would touch my sensitive, little floppy ears??? Yup. Anyways, lovely to meet you and have fun on my page!
Best treats,
Balou