There's nothing really important to say today -- as opposed to the other days, when all of my posts are must-reads, right? -- so I figure it's time for a good, ol' fashioned TMI post about my dog.
If anyone is reading this blog for the first time, please don't be driven away by this post. I promise to write about more interesting/appealing subjects -- or at least less gross ones -- for the rest of the week.
Did you forget about our baby, Bailey? I won't let you. Here she is:
Will sit for food.
She's always sweet, but she's at her very sweetest in the early morning. One of our alarms will go off, and she sticks her head over the side of the bed and looks up at us with her big brown eyes and smiles. She's really excited to eat, but she keeps it under control because it's still dark and quiet and we're all taking our sweet time waking up. The sweetness and restrained crazies last until we start going down the stairs toward the food, at which point she becomes bonkers, but I love these early morning minutes.
It was a different story this morning.
Kyle and I awoke to the sweet sounds of Bailey retching around 6:40 AM. Hearing and then seeing such a thing is a much more effective way to wake up than merely depending on the saucy "marimba" rhythm of my iPhone alarm. I shot out of bed this morning, ran downstairs with her, and stepped out onto our chilly back patio wearing a very fetching gigantic t-shirt. It was too late. She had apparently emptied all of the non-contents of her stomach and was feeling quite peckish, in fact, so while long-suffering Kyle worked on the small mess upstairs, she chowed down on some breakfast while I researched (Googled) reasons that an apparently healthy dog would randomly throw up.
I suspected carrots because she'd never eaten them before last night, and I'll tell you why she's eating them now.
Here's the thing -- Kyle and I had a bit of confusion over how much Bailey should be eating at this age and/or how much we were actually feeding her, and she's put on a few pounds (it happens to the best of us). Now, before you think we're abusing our puppy, look at the evidence:
Halfway through our 5 MILE WALK last week, in front of Dad's old house (heyyyy Fingal!)
A nice overhead shot of her non-waist, apparently.
She's 15 months, and I'd guesstimate her weight at 70 lbs. So, not skinny of course, but not obese for a golden retriever. Just a tad pudgy. I still think she looks adorable.
My mom pointed this out to me last weekend, several times in fact. You know, in case I didn't hear it correctly the first time (please don't be that grandma someday, we may never speak again). Kyle had been voicing some suspicions about it as well over the past few weeks, though he didn't use the term "fat." So in case you're thinking I sound defensive, I do. Apparently I'm going to be the most sensitive mom ever, if anyone ever dares to criticize anything about our future children. You've all been warned. She's not fat, okay?!
Don't listen to them, Bailey.
Anyway.
She really should drop about 5 lbs, so we're cutting her back from accidentally feeding her a little under 4 cups of food per day (I know, I know) to a little under 2. She's on the canine version of The Biggest Loser, basically.
Kyle gave her a few carrot slices to nibble on last night, and she seemed to really like them! Nice and crunchy. And then, to return to my original story in this post, we ended up with puke on one of only two carpeted areas of our house this morning.
Turns out, though, it probably wasn't the carrots. It was probably her uncharacteristically empty stomach. I guess this can cause nausea and bile issues for dogs? Poor thing:(
I think we'll cure this little issue by feeding her her customary cup of food in the morning, a heaping half cup of food when we get home from work, and a quarter cup of food shortly before bed. Usually she's fed breakfast around 7 AM and dinner around 5 PM, but apparently that evening cup of food isn't holding my girl over very well for the 14 hour nighttime stretch.
She was so embarrassed!
I can't see you, you can't see me...
Diets stink, or so I hear.
With that, I bid you a happy Tuesday!