Day 2368

I almost got Dot outside this morning, but she peed on the very last rug before we went out the back door. I'm still having trouble coordinating things in the mornings. There is a very small window of opportunity to take Dot outside before she pees all over the place. If Dash gets outside while I'm tending to Dot, he will eat leaves or grass which make his throw up later. If Dash starts barking in the kitchen because he wants his breakfast, it often makes Dot poop. Both dogs have pills they take in the morning and they need to be ready to go by the time the dog walker gets here. I also need to re-arrange the dogs beds in their daytime configuration and make my own bed before Dash decides to spend the day sleeping under the covers.When our morning walk is finished and the dogs are tired, I sit down and eat my own breakfast.

Dot stumbled around a bit and seemed tired when we got up this morning, but did surprisingly well in the underwater treadmill later in the day. I keep looking for a predictable pattern, but everything seems random. Some times Dot will poop every few hours, and other times she can make it through an entire day without any incidents. I never know what to expect. There are good days and bad days and you have to be prepared for either. All in all, today was a good day. The acupuncture session relaxed her, she didn't poop in the car, and everyone was pleased with her performance on the treadmill. Of course you can't have everything. Both dogs are driving me crazy right now with their incessant barking. I don't know what they want, but they don't seem to want me to write this blog.

I'm surprised at how well the dogs are getting along with the dog walker. I had expected these walks would be a giant hassle, but everything is working out pretty well. It's only been four days and Dot and Dash have already grown to expect her every morning. They often start waiting at the front door around 7 AM. The fact that this minor variation in their daily routine seems enjoyable to them probably says a lot about how boring their daily lives have become. They used to have a lot more variety in their lives when we went to training class every Wednesday and frequently took them to the dog park on weekends. When they were younger, they were often ambassadors at Dalmatian Rescue events. You can't do as much when one of your dogs has trouble walking, but I do need to think of some new ways to add a little variety to their lives. It would probably be a good idea to add some variety to my own life as well.

There's not going to be a lot of variety tomorrow. By the time I finish taking care of the basics, I'm exhausted. I never dreamed you could spend so much time cleaning rugs and doing laundry. When you add fecal and urinary incontinence to a severe physical disability and cancer, you've got the recipe for a high maintenance dog. I don't know how you'd deal with a dog like this if you worked in an office all day. Luckily, I have a lot of flexibility.

I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight. You'd think this would be easy, since the dogs finally quit barking and are sleeping now. The only snag in my plan is that I have to wake them up and give them their evening meds and take them both outside to pee before I can go to bed. This means I'll be getting ready for bed and they'll be wide awake again. Eventually, we all manage to fall asleep and then it's morning again.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day