My poor boy George was unwell yesterday. Dogs can get really sick really fast and then recover just as quickly. He had been nibbling at some grass at the park in the morning which made me wonder if he was not feeling great.

I went to the gym mid morning and stayed for a double class. I stopped for a coffee on the way home and as soon as I opened the door I was like hmmmm, that smells a bit funky!

George had had a couple of bouts of diarrhea on my bed and on the floor in the living room and he had also vomited on his dog bed. It was a bit of a smelly mess. I gave him lots of pets and used my most soothing voice to reassure him that it was all ok and to rest up whilst I cleaned up.

Thank goodness for latex gloves, paper towels and my mop! I stripped the bed and put the sheets in the wash, I scrubbed the mattress and then sprayed it liberally with Glen-20. I scooped up all the loose poop on the floor and the vomit on his dog-bed and threw it all and the gloves in a trash bag and flung it in the bin outside.

He had to go outside a few more times to poop and I just hosed it into the grass, there was no scooping of that loose mess!

I washed his dog bed, but it’s not ideal, the cover doesn’t come off and it’s been shoved in the machine a few times over the last few years and it’s become all lumpy and hard.

I decided we needed to go to his favourite pet supply store and buy him a new bed. He came for the ride as the store is pet friendly and he’s allowed inside on a leash. Bit of a risk as he might have hurled on the back seat, but he just lay down and napped. He perked up at the store, it’s his favourite place to visit (that and his doggy daycare).

We looked around for beds and chose the one in the pic above. It’s one of those calming dog beds and it has a removable cover, so it can be washed easily and the bed itself will maintain its structure. He sniffed it suspiciously when we got home, but you can see he decided that he does love it afterall.

He only drank water for the remainder of the day and didn’t seem to want food. I gave him a small handful of dog kibble this morning and he has brightened up considerably.

It’s good to see him back in top form and he was all a-gallop at the park and played with a couple of his doggy friends. If he’d been sick during the night it would have meant a trip to the vet, animals can get dehydrated really quickly, but because he got up in the night to drink more water I figured whatever had upset his stomach had passed and he was ok.