Gratitudes 2018, Day 47

Since I mentioned Berkley and Sophie yesterday (Berkley’s the one in front), I decided to write some gratitudes about them. Thus, the Berkley and Sophie Edition:

  1. Berkley’s anxiety. I know, an odd thing to be grateful for. It’s not like we enjoy seeing him shaking in the kennel when we’re leaving the house, but Teresa thought that a companion would help keep him more relaxed. Thus, Sophie joined our family.

  2. Doggie diapers. Berkley and Sophie are rescues. When we got Sophie almost a year ago, she wasn’t housebroken. Not at all. After the first few accidents, we started investing in doggie diapers to keep her from marking the entire house as her territory.

  3. Our Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution. It was advertised as a pet carpet cleaner. That’s why we bought it. It’s been good for cleaning up lots of stains, especially stains caused by pets.

  4. The dogs’ kennel. Their combined weight is about 35 pounds, so they can both fit into a kennel that we keep on the lower level of the house. They can stay in there while we’re at work instead of putting them in daycare every day and we haven’t needed to put a pee pad in the kennel (for either dog) for months.

  5. Pee pads. The kennel floor is made of hard plastic, so pet carpet cleaners don’t work well there. The vacuum is actually a pretty recent purchase—before then, everything got cleaned by hand. (Berkley sometimes needed a pee pad when he’d be in there for a really long workday, but neither dog has had an accident for a very long time.)

  6. They love their mama. That can make it difficult for me to take them outside to pee—they’d rather stay inside with Teresa, so I sometimes have to carry that 35 pounds to the entryway to put their harnesses on. That’s a bummer for me, but the fact that they’ve found someone who loves them and they love her back… it’s pretty awesome.

  7. Berkley loves his mama. That’s a potty-based gratitude. When Teresa takes him out, “Yay, I get to walk with Mom! It’ll last longer if I don’t pee!” When I take him out while she’s home, “I better pee fast so I can get back inside to Mom!”