Gasso gets the Pet of the Day Award!!!

God sent us Barkley, our little weenie dog, 2 years ago to prepare us for children. That was His plan - I know it. Not to learn responsibility and how to teach, discipline, and reward. But, how to learn to deal with the peeing, pooping, vomiting, chewing, destroying, whining, rebelling, bringing dead squirrels into the house....oh wait, hopefully our kids won't do that!

It's 4:15 in the morning, all is quiet in the house...until Barkley starts whining and doing what he is so aptly named for....barking. We both know this isn't a good sign, because this has happened before.....numerous times. We both say some "choice words" as we crawl out of bed. It looks like a scene from Night of the Living Dead as we stumble down the hallway and into the living room. I'm not quite ready to fully commit to waking up, keeping one earplug in. Yes, I wear earplugs to bed....they are oblong foam miracles that saved our marriage. Jon snores, and I'm a light sleeper. Back to the story.

We both smell what we expected to smell. Poop. Not just any kind of poop - "sick" poop. In his crate. After a few more "choice words", we kick it into gear. Since this has happened numerous times before, because Barkley apparently has a doggie version of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), we know the routine. I let Barkley outside to finish any other business he may need to finish. Then I grab him and quickly run to the bathtub to give him a bath. Jon on the other hand, gets the fun job - cleaning the crate. Poor guy - I would've helped him, but with the smell that was coming out of that thing, he'd be cleaning that plus the vomit that would be coming out of me! Yes, I played the pregnancy card :)

After Barkley's bath, he of course had to jump on the couch and on to some clean folded clothes, to shake all the water off. After chasing him around and finally catching him, we put him back in the crate, washed up, and went back to bed to try and salvage what little sleep we had left. As we were lying there, Jon mutters, "Gasso is my favorite pet now" and I agreed with him.

For those that don't know - Gasso is Jon's devil cat that has it out for me. Gasso and I are at war - she's winning, for now. However, she is loved today because she finally gets the Pet of the Day award. She better enjoy it, because it's the only one she'll get :)

Congratulations Gasso!