The Down Side of Dogs

On the opposite side of dog ownership:

Around 5 this morning, Tika started insisting that she had to go out. I didn't hear any evidence of wildlife in the back yard, which is sometimes her motivation and which is not something that I want to encourage ("Mom! Wake up and get out of bed so I can go chase the raccoon!"). So I dragged myself out of bed and put on my robe and slippers.

Jake woke up this time (often he doesn't--helps being oldish and deafish) but hobbled over all scrunched up like he could barely walk. I tried to rub him gently and he yelped a little, so I got even gentler and just tried to get him to move around a bit. Tika is still saying "MOOOmmmm, I gotta go OUUUUUuuuuutt!" in the background. So I opened Boost's crate, praised her for waiting inside and gave her a goodie, checked that Jake was mobile, and opened the bedroom door.

Tika and Boost raced downstairs, Jake followed briskly but not wildly. I let them out to the yard. Tika raced outside with a Woof! but didn't sound like she was actually chasing anything, it was just the principle of the thing (there MIGHT have been something out there, you just never know). Then I waited for them to come back in, which they did fairly shortly.

Then I headed back upstairs but Jake wouldn't start up the stairs. I urged, I took his collar and tugged gently, I walked up and left him below; nuthin'. Soooooooo I bent at my aching knees to save my aching back and lifted the arthritic dog using my aching shoulder and carried him upstairs. We all crawled back into bed.

I was mostly awake, so I read for a while. Finally turned off the light and had barely started to doze off when the puppy started vomiting in her crate. So I got up, put on my robe and slippers, opened the crate, praised the puppy for waiting inside and released her. Took her downstairs thru the kitchen and opened the back door and she went right outside.

Went back upstairs with paper towels, the hand-held carpet cleaner, and the organic pet-spot remover. Cleaned out the piles of extraordinarily disgusting-smelling vomit (I believe she had managed to eat Tika's poop again; throwing it up is supposed to discourage dogs from eating the same thing again but it doesn't seem to affect her fondness for T.P. (tika poop)). Went downstairs again and boost was lying hunched up miserably down in my office. Sure enough, gross disgusting vomit on the carpet in the office.

Accompanied the miserable-looking puppy out to the yard, where she vomited almost nothing repeatedly, poor thing. Back inside with a miserable puppy wanting to snuggle, cleaned up the loose stuff, brought down the cleaner and spray from upstairs, cleaned the carpet, accompanying the puppy back outside a couple more times for throwing up nearly nothing.

Closed all the doors, took everything upstairs. Finished cleaning out the crate. Took all the dirty stuff downstairs--where Tika had been throwing up on the kitchen floor. (At least it wasn't on the carpet).

By the time it was all over, it was well into my usual get-up time and I was well awake and, besides, the bedroom stank, so I was up for the day.

Aren't dogs fun?

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