I really don’t want every single post I write to be about Sampson and his struggles with a partial ACL tear or his adrenal glands. (I’m pretty sure you don’t either!)
I’m going to do my best NOT to do that. But as most of you know, typically people talk about what they know and the situations that impact their lives. And when you have an ill or injured pet, that is definitely life impacting.
Even though you may have an ill or injured pet, there are still instances where you can find humor. Hell, I can pretty much find humor in most situations. It may not always be nice, or politically correct, but you can bet your ass I’m laughing about it.
Sometimes if I’m really non-PC, I’m only laughing on the inside, but I’m still laughing.
Sampson did a partial ACL tear on a Tuesday. On that miserable walk out of the park, my sweet, sweet boy managed to take a dump.
And THAT was the last one he took, for over 36 hours.
As we hit the 24 hour mark, I placed a call to the vet. The last thing I needed was for the damn dog to get impacted with poop on top of everything else he had going on.
The vet suggested some pumpkin as a natural way to get the process going and explained that sometimes when we have an injury, it takes our systems a little bit of time to ‘reset’ themselves.
Not to mention, (I thought), the dog isn’t getting out and walking to help move things along.
Wednesday night as I snuggled with Sampson I said to Hubby, “I hope he poops in the house tomorrow.”
It’s okay really. With the raw diet, the poop is very hard and is easy to pick up. A shot of disinfectant on the floor and you’d never even know it happened. 😉 (Well YOU would, because I would tell you and then if you came to my house, you’d be like, “Where was it? Remember Patty, don’t sit on HER floor.”)
The vet had said to keep Sampson’s potty breaks to five to seven minutes only two or three times per day.
Immediately after his injury we were confining him to our yard.
No wonder he wouldn’t poop.
So Thursday morning I thought, well why can’t his five to seven minutes be outside the yard? I leashed him up, set the timer on my phone for three minutes and very slowly and carefully we set out.
Well lo and behold, he pooped! I was so excited I shot Hubby a text. And his response made me LAUGH. Check it out.
I told you we could find the humor in most situations.
Another thing that happened was both funny and sad.
Sampson hasn’t been coming to bed with me a lot lately. I’m not sure if he hates us helping him up on the bed or what (maybe it’s time to put the mattress back on the floor) but he’s spent a lot of nights in the living room.
Saturday night was one of those nights. He was stretched out in front of the fireplace and I said good night and we went to bed.
Somewhere around 1:00 am Delilah barked and jumped off the bed. This isn’t so unusual unto itself because she does do this randomly. I don’t know why. Maybe she has a dream or maybe she just likes to fuck with my REM cycle, but if you’ve ever been startled awake, you know what I mean.
What WAS different this time was that she ran down the hall and into the living room, barking the whole way.
It wasn’t a holy shit, there’s somebody in the house bark, it was more like, run, run, woof, run, run, woof.
Once I was pretty sure there was no-one in the house, I followed her, only to find her standing in front of Sampson who was still lying right where I’d left him.
Once Hubby and I were on the scene, she left and went back to bed. In Hubby’s spot. (She’s evil that one.)
So there I was at 1:00 am wondering why the hell she woke me up and if something was terribly wrong with Sampson. Hubby rubbed his ear (Sampson’s not his own, I mean what would the point of that be?) And Sampson smiled, but he didn’t move.
Hubby went back to bed and I started to go myself and then I thought, what if something’s really wrong?
I tried coaxing Sampson up, but he wouldn’t move, so I grabbed a pillow and a blanket and laid down on the floor with my hand under his head. I knew he wasn’t in distress or pain because he was very calm and he wasn’t panting or exhibiting any other signs to indicate something was wrong.
It took me a while, but after about an hour or so I calmed down enough to start to fall asleep.
Then he got up and moved to a dog bed.
I guess Delilah’s not the only one who likes to mess with my sleep cycle.
Do you find humor in hard situations? Are you like me, sometimes just laughing to yourself?
Welcome to Thursday’s Barks and Bytes Blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog. We hope you will grab a badge from one of our websites and join us.
Hi there! I just wanted to tell you we nominated you in our 3 Quote challenge, in case you want to participate. Hope tonight is restful for you!
NOBODY finds humor like you do! I’m pretty sure I’m right about this.
Katie is losing control of her back end muscles. She falls a lot, and she has a real tough time squatting to pee and poop. Sometimes, though, when she gets up in the house she can’t control herself and a “log” will pop out on the floor. We don’t care because as you say, it’s easy clean up but we feel bad for her because we know she doesn’t feel right about doing that. It sure beats a dog that pees in the house, and that is the bright spot. I’m sure you will all settle into a new routine, but we know how hard it is as Katie has changed so much and can’t get around like she used to.
It’s that old saying, if you don’t laugh, you’ll just end up crying about it.
Poor Sampson. Perhaps he was just too tired to try to go up the stairs. But I love the way you find humor in so many situations. And the more politically incorrect the better, IMO.
That is so sweet that you both cuddled together. I mean, not waking up at 1am to do it but still. Getting startled awake by a bark is so not fun. I hope Sampson’s ACL heals quickly!!
Political correctness is ruining the country and causing miserable people and a total lack of humor. Thank you, Jodi, for being you and I hope you get lots of REM sleep.
Glad to see some things don’t change! I wonder if Sampson has been talking to Poppy as her new favourite game is lt’s not poo in my litter tray overnight. You have no idea how much it freaks me out seeing that she hasn’t poo’d. Why do they do this to us??
I think it is pretty clear what happened by Sampson’s smile. He and Delilah probably planned that little diversion earlier in the day so Delilah could get a choice spot on the bed. He may have some physical limitations, but clearly, his mind is still quite sharp and his sense of humor seems intact. 😉
I tend to be pretty serious, I try to find humor though. 🙂 It’s easier to laugh than to cry right?
I think I just need to hang out with you sometime!
I know exactly how you feel. I feel like every other blog post I write is about Sheba’s cancer or our impending potential move. I’m afraid people might get tired of reading about both, but those two things are consuming my life and thoughts right now so how can I not be writing about them a lot? I know Sampson’s injury is consuming your life as well; but I’m glad you can find some humor in it because that is all that keeps us sane, right?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up in the night and felt Sheba panting. Is she in pain? Is she just hot? Our bedroom is warm and I have to remind myself it is not unusual for her to pant at night when on the bed; she’ll often move to the floor where it’s cooler. She doesn’t pant during the day. But it worries me and keeps me awake nonetheless.
I loved your story though. I can’t tell you how many times we go to snuggle with the dogs and they just get up and walk away! But we are expected not to move when they flop on top of us and hog all of our space in the middle of the night! 🙂
Sampson was probably wondering why your were all disturbing him…lol.
“Hell, I can pretty much find humor in most situations. It may not always be nice, or politically correct, but you can bet your ass I’m laughing about it.”
I laughed out loud at that one! Girl, sometimes you’re so much like me it’s scary.
Yay for poop! :p
You poor thing–Barley and Soth like to mess with my REM cycle, too. I’m glad Sampson was fine, and I’ve definitely curled up on the floor with my darlings in the middle of the night and had the same results. Hope those two let you get some good quality sleep soon!
Okay with that title you just know I had to read further lol
I think Delilah just wanted hubby’s spot in the bed. And Samson probably thought a dog can’t get any sleep with these people around.
Seriously though I know what you mean about focusing on your dogs when something is wrong with one of them. But hey that’s what makes us such great care givers 🙂
My bipeds do manage to find the humour in most situations. They say they’d never have survived my puppyhood if they couldn’t – I call that rude!
I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard a biped say “I hope he poops in the house”! And you’re right about exercise helping things along – my bipeds classify long walks by how many poops I take!
I would be like you too and say just poop in the house!!! Glad he finally pooped for you.
Obviously, your pups are both too dang clever for you and their own good. ღ