I’ve been sick since the dog show last weekend.  I went to the doctor today.  After 9 days of  not getting any better, it was time.  I have bronchitis and a sinus infection.  So the doctor wired in 3 scripts and down I went to get them.  I came home afterward to let the dogs out before I went back to work.

These dogs, my friends, my little buddies, my children, have been really mean to me since I got sick.  The first night my Luigi demanded his dinner so loudly and pushy.  I was running out of steam and had wished I’d opted for scooping kibble instead of making them a combo of canned food and kibble.  Luigi, though, is special, and gets something cooked every night.  He’s got calcium oxalate stones, so I put him on the Fuzzer Diet and 4 years later, he’s still stone free.  Thank you Fuzzer!  Luigi, on the other hand, was just inconsiderate as can be when the chips were down for me.  I wasn’t strong, and he sensed it. I usually am because with Dobies, you have to be or they’ll walk all over you.  And they do take advantage of any opportunity to test.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re a wonderful breed, and you have to be a handler to keep the rules straight.  But when you’re sick, it’s a hard thing to stand up straight, let alone keep the dogs’ rules straight.

I fed them and let them out, and just wanted to go to bed.  So when I found pee on the big mat in the living room, I blew a fuse.  It was too cold outside for me.  I think I was running a fever then, but have been avoiding the outdoor chill factor unless I put the coat on to go clean the dog droppings.  But I had to drag that mat outside and hose it off with soapy water and wash the floor in the living room.   Then everyone went into their crates for the night, and no one, esp not Luigi, was allowed on my bed.  I reclaimed it.

Then I realized my Aussies were doing right by me, so I let the one that sticks by my side and sets the pack in line, sleep on the bed.  <sigh>  I needed a friend…an alliance and she was right there for me.   She’s been quite happy there since.  I only let Luigi back twice, and Leissl once.  But Bunny has been there since the Loud Mouth Luigi/Pee-On-The-Big-Mat incident.

The thing about Dobies in general is they get really hooked on schedules and rituals.  So when I don’t go out in the back yard with them, as they are used to, they stand and stare at the door unless they are bursting.  So I walk away and think they go pee, but I am sure that’s not always the case as I have had to clean pee 4 nights out of 9 in the house.  Mind you, I haven’t cleaned pee in the house for ages.  But the babies can’t seem to take care of business without my being there to supervise or it can’t be stored any longer.  And I do not like to leave them alone outside, and except for this reason of being sick, I don’t do it normally.

Whatever the case, I am bonding more with blue-eyed Bunny now.  I think 2011 will be the year of the Aussies at Fort Doberdale.  I need to work on their training and getting some titles.  The title part may not happen till 2012, but we’ll see.  Though Leissl still needs 2 more legs in Rally Exc to finish, and Luigi needs a CD.  And I don’t know what I will be doing about agility yet.  But I am starting to think of those 2011 resolutions.  I need goals, and esp to write them down.  And cut down the big goals to manageable and measurable parts.  Or else, I don’t do what I want to do, which really seems weird to me, but I guess a lot of us don’t always steer the ship to the right dock.  So odd.