Dogsitting (from the next room)

Well it's been quite a week.  On Monday I found out that my parents' dog was sick and might not pull through.  This was really distressing for me because although I don't like all dogs, I really like THIS dog.  She's a 12 year old rescue dog that my parents adopted 2 years ago, and she isn't above biting you if you do something she doesn't like.  But she likes me and doesn't bite me, so we've definitely bonded.

On Wednesday night I headed to my parents' place, in case Charlie the dog didn't make it through the week.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived, but whatever steroids they gave the dog have totally worked and now she is back to normal!  Except for one thing...

The dog has some serious -- deadly -- gas.  Stop reading this if you don't want to know more.  (By now you've figured out that this is not a dating-related post.)

Meet Charlie.  The only thing missing in this picture are the stink lines.

Yesterday I took the dog on three long marathon walks.  (The wee thing hasn't pooped since Tuesday, likely due to her medicine.)  I thought maybe a long walk would help get her old bowels working, so I wouldn't have to sit in a stink cloud while trying to work from home.  I had a conference call scheduled for 2:30 with a bunch of Partners and I didn't want to audibly gag.

The first walk at 9am was long enough that we were both dragging our feet when we got home.  Still Charlie didn't poop.

The second walk at 1pm felt like a major ordeal.  Charlie saw me approach her with the leash and looked at me like, "Are we seriously doing this again?"  (I guess she didn't mind her own fumes as much as I did.)  And after that walk, still no poop.

So dogsitting today is a struggle.  Charlie is definitely not sick anymore, judging by the way she is jumping around and playing.  But her farts are noxious, and getting worse.  First I moved to the other couch.  Then when that wasn't far enough, I moved rooms.  I love my dog, but even I have my limits.

Gearing up for another long walk, this time in the snow.  Just waiting for Charlie to wake up from her mid-morning nap. 

I have to get her walk in before we both have our Friday late-afternoon one.  *Yawn*