Although she was great with Chynna, she wasn't so great with us. You always had to be careful what you said around her as she took herself very seriously.
The downhill slide started a few weeks ago. Nicky had come over to teach us how to correct Chynna when she pulled or resisted on the lead and made us walk up and down the sidewalk outside our house. As she walked off, I jokingly said to P, "Slave driver!". She turned around and I pointed to P and said, "He said that!", not realizing she didn't know it was actually me who had made the tongue-in-cheek remark.
That evening, she sent P a very rude text saying that she was trying to teach us how to have a better behaved dog and that she didn't appreciate him making nasty comments about her! I quickly contacted Nicky and explained that it was me being cheeky and that P didn't have anything to do with it. She said, "Opps!" but never apologized to P. Needless to say, P was extremely p*ssed off but he let it go as he knew how much I liked her.
The problem with someone like Nicky who is very self righteous is that it is just a matter of time before another incident explodes. Yesterday, that happened with me and unfortunately for her, I am not as forgiving as P.
I knew that she was having financial difficulties as she has cancelled her contracts with all of her other clients as they didn't train their dogs the way she wanted them to. As I know she likes to sew, I offered her the opportunity to make some dog mats for me as I wanted to give them to my colleagues who cover for me when I go on holiday. They are all dog owners. I had bought a lovely Cath Kidston dog mat from an online seller but I wanted to give Nicky the business instead so I asked her to copy it.
However, out of hoping to do a good turn, the whole situation became a huge palava. Nicky got flustered because she couldn't source good but cheap fabrics and it became a very big deal in her mind. In the end, it got very complicated when she started sending me more and more irate texts raving about working for minimum wage, wasting her time looking for material, etc.
I honestly didn't understand what the fuss was about. If other sellers can do it, why can't she? Anyway, it got to the point where I then became very fed up. I sent her last sms to P, who replied back with, 'Crazy!"
That, coupled with the previous incident with P, made us both decide that we didn't want her to work for us anymore. I have always considered her a friend, not just an employee, but her inability to treat people with respect and in a rational manner completely turned us off.
P went home early from the office and waited for Nicky to drop Chynna off in the afternoon. He then told her we needed a cooling off period. At this news, she completely lost her temper and started arguing with him. When he told her it wasn't doing any good, she stormed off. She claims she didn't see it coming and although I hope that this will be a good wake up call for her, I doubt if she can see where she went wrong.
She has since sent me several texts and emails, none of which I have read. Although it saddens me a lot, I know that it is pointless trying to explain where we are coming from. I have always known she is a hair trigger away from losing her temper and she herself has admitted she is highly strung.
She is in her late 30s, has never been married and been seeing a married man for the last six years whom she breaks up and gets back together with at least once a week. I guess when you live your life with so much drama, you forget what stability and 'normalcy' (for lack of a better word) is like. I honestly believe she doesn't know how to behave with other people as she has been alone for so long. She admitted to me some time ago that she doesn't have any female friends anymore and no wonder. She makes ME look low maintenance, and that is saying something!
We have found another company run by a couple who take care of dogs full time. Chynna is going with them today so fingers crossed that she will have a smooth transition into their pack.
Although is is 'summer' here, it has been very rainy and wet. I have bought Chynna an expensive Hurtta raincoat (from Finland, what they don't know about dog coats ain't worth knowing!) but being a cheapskate, I have got a larger size that will fit her when she's grown (she has approximately another two inches in length, two inches around her neck and three inches around her chest to go). Here she is modelling it (albeit unhappily) for mummy ha ha:
'Le Kwa Si Mi?!'
