Lots of Little Fish, A Sick Dog and a Terrifying Blanket!

Last night was a night of unbelievably bad sleeping!  Not that I was awake by choice but rather I was up most of the night due to things not so pleasant.  Mark and I had made a trip to the pier late yesterday evening to catch a few fish.  Menhaden (our bait of choice) were everywhere and fish were having a wonderful time catching their fill.  As usual, Ms. Ez, the Bayou Dog, went with us. And, as usual, she ate a number of the small fishy menhaden.  She loves these things!  Raw fish has never been to my liking, personally, so I do not see the allure of her actions.  Still, the wiggly fish seem to delight her..or at least they have in the past.  Perhaps I should say..they still delighted her but not her tummy.  About midnight last night, she got sick.  Violently!  I am really fortunate that the old dog knows to "hold it" until she is outside but those outside breaks kept me hopping all night.

At first, I was a bit bewildered what was happening.  Ms. Ez knows to head to the door when she feels ill and she did just that.  Except things were a bit different this time.  Instead of her leaving her bed behind, the bed went with her!  Let me clarify that her "bed" is not only the normal doggy bed but is layered with three folded blankets.  It is very soft and comfy for an old dog.  Last night when she jumped up to head to the door, her top blanket became tangled on her toenail.  Not good!  Not good indeed!  The poor, old dog who was already feeling strange now had a blanket following her!  Since the blanket was attached to her front paw, she kept stepping on it with her back feet.  This would make her tumble to the floor.  When I first heard this, I had no idea what was happening!  In the pitch blackness of the night, I heard what sounded like a drunk person stumbling in my living room!  I flipped on the light to see a dog stumbling around the room all the while trying not to puke inside the house!  Poor old thing!  Now, I had a choice..open the door and let her drag that blanket down the steps and into the night or try to remove it.  I opted for the removal.  This was going to have to be a quick operation, though, as her heaves were getting stronger by the second!  I grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped a hunk out of the blanket.  Just as I opened the door, she bolted!  Whew!  We made it in time!  That was not the end of the menhaden episode, however.  Thirty-two times I had to fly to open the door for a sick dog!  Between midnight and seven in the morning, I did not even attempt to sleep!  At daybreak, I looked at her and she was sound asleep.  My goodness!  Now that I could not sleep, she was out like a baby!  So, no rest for me!

This evening while on the pier, I mentioned to Mark that Ms. Ez still had a piece of the blanket caught on her toenail.  I had not been able to pull it all the way off because it had actually split the nail and was wedged very tightly.  He reached over and pulled the snippet of rag from her nail with no problems.  Other than a ragged nail, she is none the worse for wear.  Tomorrow, she will get a pedicure!  Me...I am exhausted!  This evening, we made sure that this old dog did not eat any raw fish!