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I wanted to put this together so you can reference back to it if you have any questions on the dogs or the house. Everything is pretty simple, but there are a few things you'll need to do weekly for the house:

  • Trash Day is Friday morning, and the blue recycle cans go out with the trash every other week. The recycle days are 10/14 and 10/28.
  • The plants need to be watered lightly about once a week, we usually water them on Wednesdays. Don't forget the fiddle leaf fig on the front porch.
  • Unfortunately, you'll have to pick up the dog poop twice. We usually do it once every 7-10 days. Wait until you have a couple of sunny days so that everything is hard, dry, and easier to pick up. There is a rake and bucket that we usually use outside by the gate (video below)
  • The pool needs to be filled up usually around once per week depending on the weather. It's really easy to do (video below)
  • The dog's water bowl/dispenser needs to get filled every 7-10 days (video below)
  • The pool guys comes every Thursday morning around 9am-11am. You don't need to do anything for that, but just make sure you are not hanging out in the backyard with the dogs at that time, as they will get very excited and the pool guys father (who comes along with him sometimes) is very scared of dogs.

You'll have a set of keys for the front door, which also works for the garage entry door, and we can give you a code for the garage door if you somehow get locked out. The front door key sometimes has to be jiggled in the dead bolt lock before it will work (video below). We will leave a garage door opener for you on the counter, so you can come in and out through the garage door if you want. Typically that is easier because the dogs don't go quite as nuts when you get home, as that's the normal way we go in and out as well. ** Note** The front door has to be pushed closed until it clicks, usually requires a little extra than just swinging it closed. The easiest way to make sure you got it is trying to pull it open to make sure it latches. Don't turn the little brass bolt near the top of the door, as you'll end up locking yourself out.

You can wash dishes by hand and use the drying rack, or feel free to load up the dishwasher and run it as needed. Use the liquid dishwasher detergent, its in the big green bottle under the sink. The dishwasher pod packs don't work very well, so avoid those unless you run out of liquid detergent. There are basic cleaning supplies under the sink as well, and additional cleaning supplies on the rack in the garage closest to the water heater. I don't think you'll need any of them, but just in case. That is also where the trash bags are located, the orange box is the bags we use for both the trash and recycling cans. 

The most important thing for inside the house is ALWAYS KEEP THE DOORS CLOSED. The dogs are totally fine to be out and about in the living room and main areas of the house, but if they get into a room they like to eat papers, trash, cardboard, etc... Please place all the mail in the empty cardboard box on the table by the kitchen bar counter. If a package gets delivered, you can put it up on that table as well so the dogs don't eat the box. They won't try to eat anything in the bedroom with you, as they just want to lay in bed with you. While eating at the coffee table or dining room table, don't leave any food unattended. They will jump up there and try to grab it, but only when you walk away or aren't looking, very sneaky. At night while they are sleeping in bed, keep the bedroom door OPEN, because they will sometimes go out and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night then jump back into bed. When they come back during the night, sometimes they won't use the ramp and will bark/cry for you to pick them up and put them back into bed. It's rare, but sometimes it happens when they think one of the other dogs is blocking the top of the ramp on the bed. The bed has a furry blanket on top that we try to keep them on top of, as it is machine washable in case they get it dirty. Typically, they just want to snuggle, but sometimes Lola will want to burrow under the covers, you'll know when she starts pawing at the top of the covers. It's easiest to just let her under for 5-10 minutes or so, and then she realizes it's hard to breathe under there. You can open the covers up, or just pull her out, and she will go back to sleep on top of the blanket. Generally once they are on the bed, they will calm down pretty quick, minus a little bit of wrestling. You can always pull them apart and just try to get them to relax. There are remotes to make the bed go up so you can watch TV, read, or work on your laptop more upright. 

There are lots of clean linens and towels in the hallway cabinets, we will have a fresh set of sheets on the bed for you when you get here. You can do as much laundry as you need, the detergent and fabric softener are in the cabinet above the machines. We usually use the "Normal" setting for wash, and the "Normal" setting with "More Dry" for the dryer. There are bounce sheets in the cabinet above the dryer. 

If you want, you can hang out in the backyard with the dogs, just make sure both side gates are latched and/or locked. However, they aren't allowed up on the hill portion, and they will try to sneak up there while you aren't looking. There is an outdoor water bowl you can fill up if you are going to be outside. The patio decking is starting to fall apart, Tito will try to grab a piece of wood and hide in the corner and eat it. Normally they will just run around like maniacs for 20 minutes and then they are exhausted and ready to lay down and rest. They are not supposed to go on the lounge chairs either because their nails can rip the cushions. They will usually go to the bathroom behind the pool equipment, near the BBQ, or by the side gate. Try not to go out too late at night, because sometimes there will be mice/rats that run around along the back of the fence, and the dogs try to chase them. You can turn on the outdoor lights by saying "Alexa, turn on the string lights". There is an Alexa inside at the living room TV and a separate one outside behind the TV cover.

They will fight over their toys, and it can sound bad but they always settle it on their own. There are two plush toys that they try to shred, and eventually they will pull out the stuffing. Once they get to that point, just pull out the rest of the stuffing that you can reach with your fingers, and let them go back at it. 

Feeding the Dogs

The dogs eat twice per day, and the time is really flexible. I know you have to leave relatively early in the morning for work, and it may take them a couple of days to get used to the new schedule. If they don't eat breakfast the first couple of days, don't worry about it. In the evening, Tito will usually be the one to tell you when they are ready to eat. He will either whine/bark at the treadmill, knock over the watering can by the front door, or scratch the sound machine by the office door. For feeding: Tito gets one full can twice per day. Ellie and Lola get 1 scoop of dry food twice per day. Tito has the big crate, Ellie is the left crate and Lola is the right crate. Watch the video below for normal feeding process. Keep in mind, sometimes Lola will be a bully and stand in the way and intimidate Tito on the way to his food or while you're mushing up his food in the bowl. Just tell her to knock it off, tell Tito to "sit", or physically separate them. Sometimes they get a little aggressive around food or toys, but they won't bite you. Just pull them off of each other and yell at the to "Stop". There are treats on the small black table in the office that you can use to get them to go to their beds, and they typically are very good when there is a treat involved.

WiFi is BeagleBites and the pw is stolistoli (all lower case)

Vet Information

Just in case something comes up, here is our general vet information:

ABC Veterinary Hospital San Diego Uptown - 4054 Normal St, San Diego, CA 92103 - (619) 299-6020

In the case of an emergency, we have taken the dogs to VCA Emergency Animal Hospital & Referral Ctr. - 2317 Hotel Cir S, San Diego, CA 92108 - (619) 299-2400

Video Walkthroughs

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