Yes, that’s a gross title, but it’s nothing compared to what I actually went through last night and this morning.

So, it got down to 6 degrees last night. I knew I couldn’t leave my dogs out all night. So we brought my old dog into the living room, and I made him a pallet on the floor. My young dog had to stay in the laundry room because he will rip apart anything he can get his teeth into. He still thinks he’s a puppy, although he’s about three. I figured I would have to deal with him whining and scratching at the door all night. I didn’t hear a peep out of the sweet guy.

But my almost 15-year-old dog. *sigh* I figured he would settle down and sleep all night. He used to when we brought him in. Not so! I was sleeping on the couch because I’ve been sick, and I also didn’t want to leave my dog alone in the living room. I heard the click, click, click of his claws on the hardwood floor ALL NIGHT. He paced for hours. If I got any sleep at all, it might have been a total of an hour while drifting off for five minutes at a time. Click, click. Then he would come up to me and push me with his nose. I told him he had my permission to pee in the floor and I would clean it up. But even if he could understand me, he’s stone deaf anyway. Click, click. About 1:30 AM, I heard this awful gagging noise. I turned on the light to witness him losing all his dog food in one puddle, then walking around making MORE puddles of vomit on the floor. So I grabbed paper towels and a garbage bag and cleaned it up, gagging the whole time. I almost had to clean up after ME. After spraying with Lysol, I lay back on the couch. Click, click. All night. Between 5:30 and 6:00, I glanced over at the front door where the porch light was shining through, revealing a big pile of poop. Here I go again, cleaning up and gagging. More Lysol. Click, click. I finally got up and went into the bathroom that’s attached to my bedroom. Just a little relief from my pacing dog. (I knew if I let him out, he wouldn’t come back in.) It was really time to get up anyway. I went ahead and took my shower. I came back out. No clicking. He was actually lying down! Now that I wasn’t trying to sleep. And he was looking kind of guilty. And there was the reason. Several little piles of poop. More cleaning, more gagging, more Lysol. I don’t know when I’ve had a worst night. Funny, though…he never did pee in the floor.

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