T.A.D.

Hi Miss T.

Any more talk about Big D's D.A.D.? After last night, I am on the D.A.D. train and fully support you getting and training one. Maybe some people are skeptical of a Diabetic Alert Dog, but let me explain my new perspective.

Last night, Nellie (typical house-dog, toy poodle breed) saved me from being the worst Mom ever. We put JT down to bed after dinner. She did eat a lot, but that's nothing new, and she went down like a champ. About 45 minutes later I was about to feed Baby C and I hear some crying from JT's room. I thought to myself, "I am just going to feed Baby C, and if she is still crying when I am done I will go in and check on her." Well, within about ten minutes the crying had stopped. So I finished feeding Baby C and got up to do some dishes.

Suddenly Nellie rushes up to me whining and acting funny. I thought "Oh she needs to go out again, but she can wait until I finish the dishes." But she didn't run to the door, she ran to JT's door and whined and ran in circles and jumped up on the door. What?! That was strange behavior. In that moment I felt like I was in a movie. Was my dog trying to tell me something? But it wasn't a good feeling like being in a movie. It was a scary feeling. A worried feeling. And also a skeptical feeling--like if that dog is wrong I am going to be ticked. I heard a cough from inside though, and got more worried than skeptical. Nellie was still frantic at the door, so I told myself "the humidifier probably needs more water anyway."

I opened the door gently and saw JT sleeping at the end closest to the door. She lightly stirred when I opened the door, but coughed some more. I patted her back and said "Lay down. It's ok." Then I went straight to the humidifier as planned. As I took it out of the room, I thought it odd that JT didn't sit up- she usually does not heed my instruction to lay down for very long. Plus it smelled weird.

I filled up the humidifier and went back in the room. It definitely smelled weird. Actually it smelled horrible. And Nellie was still jumping and whining but in the room now. I returned to the crib and reached down to JT. She turned her head and suddenly I saw that she had thrown-up a grown-up amount in her crib...and it was literally everywhere. :( POOR GIRL! Had it not been for Nellie, would I have left her in there all night with that mess!? I can't even think about it. I get sick and teary if I think about what could have happened had Nellie not alerted me, and it's not even a life or death situation.

Needless to say, I am so grateful I had an alert dog last night. These two little babies have a very imperfect mother who needs to be a little more diligent in checking on them in the night. But I will do better. And thank goodness we got everything taken care of last night. So hopefully JT will be swinging happily again soon!

And thank you to Nellie for saving me from being the worst mother ever by being my T.A.D. Throw-up Alert Dog. And I support a D.A.D. for Big D. You know I already did anyway, but that was because I am a dog person. But now I am a concerned-in-the-night-person. ;)

Love, Kk