Farmlet housesitting

Who was it who said, the more I know people the more I like animals? Good ol' Mark Twain! I feel the same way the older I get; animals, at least our domesticated animals, are so sweet and so genuine and reliable and people are so tricky and hard to figure. I am housesitting but really farmsitting as well or maybe it's just a farmlet because it's very small: there are two goats, two pigs, a bunch of chickens and a rooster, two cats who are indoors only and a small deaf senior Pomeranian dog. The house is enormous (to me) and really nice, like something out of House Beautiful magazine.  

The nicest thing is that I didn't have an in-person tour; we did a tour by Skype which is actually very difficult for one person to manage, feeding all these animals and holding a camera or phone but at least I didn't have to drive out here (although it's not very far away from my house). Why it's nice is that we have had no contact personally, no masks or questions about contacts or health. Normally I would not have been happy with that since it's really quite a bit harder to figure out how things work, like gates, filling up water bowls...but there's always texting!

And finally there is clean air to breathe after all the smoky air from the wildfires! So it's raining but at least I can open the windows.

The main problem I have with this housesitting gig is that she has shock collars for the cats so they don't go on the kitchen counters or eat the dog food. This seems really extreme, a case of technology purely for the convenience of the owner and the pain of the animal. Wouldn't you know it: I got shocked. My little finger still feels numb and tingly after an hour! I can't put the collars on them!  What happened to training? With cats that means yelling at them or making a loud noise or spritzing them with water but still, it works, or pretty much so. Doors work wonders, too. 

Though I understand with this dog his food does not disappear quickly like with most dogs. He lets it sit for a long time, often not eating it. He has a kidney disease and perhaps that is the reason, or maybe he's just a fussy eater. They feed him lactose free milk and ground beef burgers. Who ever heard of a dog drinking milk? I have not met them and may never meet them so it's hard to ask questions like this.

I am pretty sure they are Mormons, the homeowners.  Is there such a thing as recovering Mormons like there are recovering Catholics? Should I not be so judgmental? They don't do caffeine though I have seen wine. What a pain, I had to bring my own Earl Grey! Just kidding. I think they are liberals since they have the Bob Woodward book, Rage, "an utterly vivid window into Trump's mind"--alongside The Book of Mormon. Which one should I read?