Day 1694

It has become clear that instead of training our dogs, they have trained us instead. Both dogs are so stubborn that it is almost impossible to get them to adapt to different sleeping arrangements. Since we are going to have to live with Dot's incontinence for the next month or so, it is important to come up with a plan to keep our sanity. Doggie diapers didn't work. Neither has sleeping on the floor. Dot and Dash are convinced that the big king sized bed in the bedroom is theirs and they just allow us to sleep with them. It has become easier to turn the bed into a waterproof fortress each night than deal with the other alternatives.

I prepared the bed well last night and we remembered to set the alarm for 2:30 AM, so we had a relatively trouble free evening. It takes forever to get everything ready. There's the long ramp at the end of the bed so Dot won't try to hop up and hurt herself. There's the fail-safe rubber sheet on top of the people's bedding, but under all the dog blankets. There are strategically placed pee pads for Dot to sleep on and Dash's favorite blanket at the foot of the bed, so he won't try to steal Dot's place in the middle of the night. Occasionally, this Rube Goldberg arrangement actually works.

I used to think that Dot woke up and moved about when she wanted to go outside and pee. I've been watching her behavior during the day and it has become clear that she only get's up after she's peed on something. She isn't trying to give me a warning signal. She's just trying to get out of the wet spot. I need to remember that dogs live in the moment. Dot has no idea why all this is happening to her.

I had quite a bit of website work to complete today. It was good to be busy, because without the work, I'd probably go stark raving mad. I've already got a long list of errands to do on Saturday when I can finally get out of the house again.

Actually, I'll be getting out of the house on Thursday, but I'll be taking Dot with me. We got the green light from the cancer center doctors to resume Dot's physical therapy. Hopefully, some gentle workouts in the underwater treadmill will help her regain some of the muscle tone she's lost in her rear legs. Dot is certainly doing her part to get stronger. She doesn't stumble as much now, and we are able to walk a little further each morning. As hard as it seems now, we are definitely making progress.

When I got my website revisions done today, I decided to relearn how to operate one of my cameras remotely using WiFi. I've had to learn this three times already, because I never use the feature. In theory, it seems really cool to be able to control every aspect of the camera remotely using my iPhone, but in practice I still prefer looking through the viewfinder. Maybe I'll use this fancy feature some day, but it won't be tomorrow. I'm sure when I find a reason to control my camera using my phone, I'll have to look up the instructions all over again.

It's raining now and both dogs are huddled under my desk. Life has almost returned to normal.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day