It hasn't been the best of days, or even the best of weeks for that matter. I've got puppy blues, among other things. First, the dog's had diarrhea for three days. If she were going outside where all dogs should go, I'd be better with it, but she's not. I came home on Wednesday to find that she'd had an accident in her crate during the day... you can imagine what this means. Wet messy dog crap everywhere inside the crate, on the dog, and on the wall next to the crate. Luckily, most of the carpet underneath was spared. I wasn't happy because it meant a lot of clean up for me, but I wasn't mad because she doesn't do this. It truly was an accident and she likely has a stomach bug of some sort. So, out she came and into the tub, where I scrubbed her from head to toe and she sparkled when I was done. Then on to the bedroom, where I scrubbed the crate and the walls and all was well again. Ruby was able to get outside to take care of her issues the rest of the night. Thursday morning, she seemed to be back to normal. I got up at my now-usual 5 AM to go for our morning walk (another reason I'm having a bad day... the scale says I've gained two pounds! I've been trying to lose and am in a "Biggest Loser" competition with a friend. I've doubled my amount of exercise and have eaten mostly well this week, so I should have lost instead of gained those two pounds. I'm confused and frustrated!), and while on our walk, Ruby did her business and all seemed normal. No worries. I came home from work in the afternoon to find a horrible scene. Ruby had not only had explosive diarrhea in her crate, but had managed to slide most of the crate tray out of the crate and broke it into a million pieces in the process. Needless to say, the carpet was a wreck from her accident, the walls were completely splattered, and Ruby was in desperate need of another scrub down. I spent the next two hours scrubbing her, the walls, the carpet, and steam cleaning. The stain remains, however. Another ruined carpet. We couldn't put her in the crate when we left for work today, because it's broken and waiting for the new tray that should arrive tomorrow, so we gated her in the laundry room while we went to work. Knowing that this was out of the ordinary and potentially stressful for her, we were afraid she'd bust out of the gate and have free roam of the house. We did some fast puppy proofing before leaving for work. It worked, to some extent. When I got home, she had in fact busted out, but hadn't destroyed any of our property. She had, however, had more diarrhea. This time, on the formal living room carpet (which WAS nearly white in color, it's so pale beige) and she peed in the formal dining room. Now, last night I did call the vet, and she's now on a bland diet. I have no idea why my beige carpet had a huge pile of nearly black "mess" on it, but let me tell you, one more carpet down the tubes, another night of pure frustration on my part, and I'm worried about why my dog is sick.
So, this may be all more information than you really needed to read about, but I'm sitting here thinking about what life will be like with our baby. Not only because babies do these things to their Mommy's and Daddy's, but also, how will we handle these dog issues that frustrate me so much when we're also dealing with a baby? People have constantly told me since getting Ruby that she's practice for the baby. I actually don't think I need to practice picking up poop and cleaning. It's not a skill that one aquires through practice. So, these comments have irritated me to no end since I've started hearing them. Does everyone who's expecting a baby get a dog so they can practice??? Why do people think I need to practice? I don't think I do. But, I DO think it's helping me practice patience and flexibility. I find myself feeling so frustrated and overwhelmed when these things happen, and I can't stop worrying about why it's going on... is she sick? Is this behavioral? What did she eat? Did I miss something? If I worry this much about my dog, will I be an uptight, worrywart parent? I've never thought of myself as uptight, so it's a hard one to imagine, but I sometimes don't like how I perseverate on things like this.
Anyway, the point of this is... who's training who? Am I training Ruby, or is she training me? I THINK I'm in charge and have the upperhand, but do I really? I imagine that when the baby's here, I might question this very thing time and time again, as I perseverate and worry, stress, and clean up everyone's messes. Tonight is a hard night, but tomorrow will be a new day, and I really do like my job here. I love this dog, love taking care of her, love training her, and in some weird way, I guess I love being trained right back.
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