Ah, the Joys of Dog Ownership at 3:00 am

I love my dog, I adore her, I think she is the sweetest creature in the world and everyday extra day that she is with us makes me smile, but geez, sometimes……

So, as I’ve mentioned before, our little girl is 14.  In the years that we have had her I can count on one hand the amount of times she has had an “accident” in the house.  And of all the “accidents” that have happened in the past, they have been on the tile landing by the door trying to get outside or in the basement.  We got her “used”, she came from a rescue nine plus years ago.

Well, when you’re 14, the basement is no longer an option, as her legs no longer do stairs and when “mom” shuts the door to the bedroom at night when we all go to sleep; the tile landing is also no longer an option.

Not once, but twice this week we have been rudely awoken to the sound of heaving, you know the sound – it’s the one where you can’t move fast enough flying through air in the night darkness to try and get a towel under the heaver.  Yeah, puppy got a new kind of treat this week, it does not agree with puppy’s belly.  

Now, I mentioned the bedroom door is closed at night, I should also mention we have that really “cool” Flokati kind of rug in the room (cool rug NOT pictured above).  The rug my husband appeased me with so I could walk on something soft, it does not look very practical in the store and it is even less practical on your floor.  I have lost spare change and jewelry in this rug – never to be found again.  It’s amazing, you drop a nickel on the rug and it’s simply gone, vanished- DUFF, hit’s the rug, gone! POOF, nothing….

So – yeah, door shut, heaving dog trying to get out, it’s three am, dog chucks, I slide the door open to move her outside as fast as possible before the next round hits her and go in the basement to get a rag and a bucket.  Turn on light, look at rug, all is not well.  Did I mention I can’t remove solid objects from this rug, try sliding a door through vomit on one of these long, shaggy, fluffy, “cool”, rugs – all is not well.  Oh, I’m sorry – you’re not eating are you?  

You see the week before we had a similar accident, on the “habitrail”, which we just pulled out of the house and power washed outside until all was perfect (see previous blog on habitrail). That night we had left the door cracked open, so she nosed her way out.  It would have been an easy clean, but she walked through it, all four paws, so yeah – I thought that was unfortunate, tossing floor tiles outside at 3:00am, until the flokati affair. 

There are several lessons to be learned here - don’t cheap out on doggie snacks, just pony up and buy the damn Greenies;  Leave the door open a smidgen, so smart doggies can get out to the landing;  When your husband questions the fancy fluffy rug purchase, he might be on to something;  Your house will never be spotless if you have small children or animals;  Industrial rug tiles (i.e. habitrails) are incredibly easy to clean;  And finally, don’t stand outside in your pajamas at 3:15 am, barefoot, running the hose in October in Michigan, that can wait until daylight – with a pair of shoes and appropriate clothing .   

Who needs sleep every night anyway…. We have one more day with our beautiful doggie!