Days of Gratitude for November 21st
Doggie diapers! Oh, Lawd ...
Today I'm tremendously grateful for an object I had never encountered, much less purchased or used, before yesterday: disposable diapers for dogs.
Yes, they make them - you may know that, but I sure didn’t. They come in a variety of sizes and fun patterns, in fact. And, thanks to our new home base in a bustling suburb of Indianapolis, they were available to me at a moment's notice.
Why did I suddenly need doggie diapers? Well! Because, when it rains, it pours, and on the second night after we arrived at Dave's parents' lovely home, Jasmine went into heat for the first time. Of course she did.
No, I hadn't gotten her spayed yet. Yes, I absolutely should've. I've kind of had a lot on my plate, okay?
It took us a couple of days to notice that Jasmine was leaving mysterious little spots on various surfaces where she'd spent time lounging. And, of course, all of those surfaces were ivory or beige. Of course they were.
I figured she'd just stepped in something funny, but Dave's mom, Renee, pieced it together pretty quickly. And when she did, I wanted to fall down a hole and just die.
I should explain: since we arrived, I've been mostly asleep. Sure, I may stagger out of the bedroom long enough to surreptitiously snarf down some cookies or glug some coffee, but by and large, I've been passed out. The bed Dave's parents made available to us just so happens to be the most comfortable bed in the entire history of beds. The bathtub is sumptuous. And the knowledge that there are other people here to look out for Dave, if necessary - that was just the cherry on top! I guess it gave my subconscious the permission it needed to just … rest.
But that meant that our poor dog was bleeding all over these nice people's house, and I wasn't doing anything about it!
I guess Dave could've noticed. But let's be real - this is the kind of thing that's always the mom's job. It just is. Even if you're only the “mom” of a dog. And I was definitely asleep on this particular job! Sure enough, it took a mom - Dave's - to correctly identify the issue!
So, after a frantic Google search (“dog in heat save furniture”), I promptly made a run to PetSmart - located just six minutes away, compared to the PetCo two towns over, at home - and came home armed with the supplies necessary to set in motion the comedy of errors that is dressing an indignant sixty-pound dog in a diaper.
My (almost-)in-laws couldn't have been kinder about the whole thing. And I'm glad, because it's definitely taken all of us to wrestle her in and out of these crazy things - which, yes, I'm incredibly grateful to have.
Tomorrow is Jasmine's first birthday. She'll be one year old! Do you think I can convince her that this is all part of being a big girl now? I don't know - that argument sure didn't work on me!
Yikes! Glad all is under control!