The puppies are causing me to fret.
Last weekend I took Stella to the vet for her annual visit. She weighed in at 21lbs, which we soon discovered was all muscle when it took me plus two others to hold her down for her vaccinations. She got her boosters and the rabies vaccine and deworming medication (and I waved goodbye to $121 ... stupid expensive vet visit) and then didn't poop for two days. And I was all fretty fret fret on Twitter (ps: thanks Charming Driver, you made me feel less twitchy.)
I was hesitant to take her to the vet because she wasn't in any pain, her energy level was the same as it always is, and she was drinking and eating normally. Also, after she got the rabies vaccine last year she developed a giant lump on her back. And I spent $40 to have my vet tell me that lots of dogs react strangely to the vaccine and that unless Stella is swollen around the face and having difficulty breathing, she's fine and it will pass. I set a poop deadline and if nothing happened before it, I would take her to the vet. Fortunately she beat my deadline and everything is fine.
However.Wolfgang upped his game this week. It doesn't matter what time we feed him or what time we take his water dish away. It doesn't matter that we're feeding him food with the highest protein percentage available or that we're feeding him the largest amount recommended for his weight. The little stinker refuses to sleep through the night. Lately he's not just waking up once a night, either. Last night he cried on three separate occasions, loud enough and long enough to wake me up completely. The first time he needed a pee. The second and third time he ran over to his empty food dish, tail wagging hopefully. I don't feed him when he wakes up during the night. I don't want to encourage his rotten, demanding behaviour. Wolfgang will not finagle a midnight snack out of me. I'm tired, though. I'm tired to the bone today and no amount of coffee will change that.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that I don't have Shawn's help this week. He's doing an intensive training program this week, capped off by a five hour exam on Saturday, so it's been my job to help lessen his load. It means that I am in charge of the puppies and I am attempting to keep food in the fridge and clean underwear in our drawers, and I really don't mind it, I don't. I just want to sleep through the night, just once. It's been so long.
I'm overwhelmed and I feel like a dork for being this anguished by two little puppies. How will I ever be a mother if I can't even handle taking care of pups? I'm assuming that babies are more labour-intensive than puppies and I cannot adequately describe just how deeply that scares me.
This wasn't supposed to be a poor-me post. I wanted to talk about how scandalized I was by your comments on my family shenanigans post (Nilsa, I was shocked when I read yours. You made your brother eat dog poop? I am surprised he still speaks to you!) And I wanted to thank you for your baby shower game suggestions. Ms. B, I am totally stealing your Who's Your Mama idea. Oh and Racquel? Your comment made my day. My plan for tonight is to watch the hockey game and make cupcakes. If that doesn't beat my grumpy mood into submission, I don't think anything will.
Happy Friday, lovelies! Stay out of trouble.
I want a puppy more than anything, but I have a feeling I'm not fully able to anticipate the amount of work and sleepless nights involved. Is there such a thing as a puppy nanny?
ReplyDeleteI have had puppies (Um. Not HAD puppies, as in given birth to them) and have had babies (Yes to the birthing)
ReplyDeletePuppies are like babies. Which is why I am in no hurry to get a puppy; I was a bit of a break from the baby stage.
At first I thought YOU had trouble pooping after taking Ms Stella to the vet! Silly me.
ReplyDeleteI love puppies so much and I've always wanted one (never did get one). But I didn't know they were so labor intensive. As for a kid, I know they are LOTS of work so I'm definitely NOT ready for one. Nuh-uh.
ReplyDeleteHope you get lots of rest this weekend and those little guys quit acting up so much!
yeah, my dog is enough of a kid as I can handle right now. Maybe when I finish school and retire from work I'll think about raising a kid...they take so much damn energy.
ReplyDeleteOf course you're fretting and of course you're tired! You're a kind, loving person who is totally invested in the well-being of her puppies. I have no dog advice, but I know they're well-loved and well cared for. I hope you all can have a relaxing weekend.
ReplyDeleteI so feel your pain. My puppies? Still throwing up too regularly to ignore. HATING IT.
ReplyDeleteAwww I am so glad Miss Stella got her um...groove back and there was nothing wrong. Is so scary when they act out of character (or um bowel habits, heh).
ReplyDeleteMan I wish I had some good words to keep the little one sleeping through the night but I think it's been so long since I've had a puppy (Sadie is ELEVEN, wow), I don't remember if she or any of the dogs I've had woke in the night as puppies.
But don't let pets worry you about the work of babies. In both cases, it's tiresome, sometimes dirty and almost always thankless work but you figure it out and it's never as bad in hindsight as it feels in the moment or else we would all be only children and nobody would dare get a second pet.
My brother was evil. Pure EVIL. Let's not talk about the butcher knife he pulled out on me once. M'kay!
ReplyDeleteAlso, maybe you can put a string of bells on your front door. Teach your pups to nudge/ring the bells when they need to go out. That way you can differentiate between must pee whines and wants to eat/play whines. No? Or do you crate your pups at night, which might render my idea useless.
the moral of the story is - dogs and kids are the same bloody trouble. on the plus side dogs will not put you through the hell of teenage dramas, run up phone bills nor put you in a home when your 75 years old...
ReplyDeleteI know my brother had the same issue with his dog getting up in the middle of the night hungry. They ended up adding some wet dog food to his nightly meal, and then just stayed with the dry food in the morning and that seemed to fill him up a little better!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Ben on this one. Two (almost) one year old Dachshunds are hard work yo.
ReplyDeleteI got them when they were six weeks old.
Yep. NO sleep the first few months.
Do you crate your dogs at night? If so, the thing that worked for me was putting my dog's crate in the bathroom and turning on the vent. The humming kept her sleeping all night, and she can hold it all night long if she's in there (she know it's her house and she's not going to mess in it!). Or you could try just getting a noise machine to put in the room if you don't crate them.
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