Dog Tired

I'm pooped today. Not because of my Sjogren's, although it's a mighty handy excuse....this time it's because I didn't sleep well last night. Also not because of Sjogren's -- related sleep disturbances, though it does that to me on occasion as well. AND not because my legs were restless and achey (they were but I could probably have taken my meds and quieted them down enough to get to sleep).

No. The reason that I didn't get enough sleep last night was because dear little Lulu; my doggie woogie buddy ol' pal that she is.......ate a slab of a very big chocolate cake covered generously with chocolate ganache icing.

Obviously, this was an accident, rotten little canine. She found a piece that I had set aside and made short work if it. I'm surprised that she didn't eat the paper plate and plastic wrap that encased it.

I worried that she may have had enough of the cocoa and bittersweet chocolate that was in the cake to hurt her, so I kept a very close eye on her for three hours, waiting to see if she would have any signs of distress at all, at which point I was ready to zoom her over to our local 24 hour veterinary hospital since it was ten pm. So I sat out in my hammock chair half-asleep, watching her romp around.

Lulu was happy as a clam. Well, happy as a larcenous clam that successfully stole a huge chunk of cake, that is. She chased moths. She played with her toys. She jumped up on my lap and licked my face. She ran in and out of her new doggie door.

She was, in short, very pleased with the fact that she had stolen two large pieces of chocolate cake; and quite delighted that I was unusually willing to play with her long after we should have been sleeping.

I got out my stethescope and listened to her heart, since I read that tachycardia was one of the early symptoms, but her rate was within normal limits for a dog. Her heart was beating at a regular rhythm. I moved the bell of my stethoscope over her tummy expecting to hear lots and lots of activity from a schnauzer belly stuffed with baked goods but......nope. A few growls (hehe see what I did there? snort) but otherwise sounded fine. Although playful and energetic, she didn't seem twitchy or neurologically impaired in any way and was able to sit quietly on my lap as long as I was rubbing her very favorite belly-rub spot.

After three hours, I decided that it was probably safe to go to sleep since she was not experiencing any ill effects whatsoever, so Lulu and I tucked ourselves into bed. I was tired, and began to drift off to sleep when.......whap.

A slobbery doggie toy was tossed onto my face. I opened one eye and saw miss Lulu the mooomooo looking expectantly at me with her "Let's play!!" face.

Oh, brother.

I figured that the mutt-mutt was probably going to be just fine as far as the chocolate was concerned but she was acting as if she had chugged a triple shot espresso. Which makes sense since chocolate not only has theobromine, but also caffeine, neither of which is good for dogs.

What AM I going to do with you, missie?! I asked her. She jumped around on the bed a few times and then scampered down the hallway, down the stairs, and outside.

Ah. Guess this means we're going back out to play.

I followed her out in case she was beginning to have diarrhea or any of the other toxin symptoms. Which she didn't since by the time my tootsies hit the back yard grass, Lulu was happily chomping on a rawhide bone.

I thought about just putting her in her kennel next to our bed for the night, but I wasn't certain that I would wake up if she began acting chocolate cake strange.

Somewhere around three AM, Lulu finally hopped back up on our bed, arranged the covers into a perfect little doggie nest, and dropped off to sleep as if nothing at all had happened.

Then woke up at six am as usual. Sigh.

Takes me back to those anxious nights spent next to a sick child. Although I have to say that my babies were much cuter than this little furball.

More cake, please!

Lulu. Girlfriend. This is SO not happening again.