Hiker Had Her 2nd Class Today

I was so exhausted from my Friday and Saturday (4 mile hike Friday and 3 hours of hard work for Make A Difference Day) that I started getting Hiker ready to go to bed around 9:30 last night. It takes me about 15 or 20 minutes to get her out to go potty and the settle her down to go to bed. Finally got to bed by 10:00 and went right to sleep, but I woke up several times during the night with some body aches. I woke up around 4:30 am and felt like crap. Just wanted to lay there and sleep but Hiker was being active, so I made her go outside for a little while to see if she would go potty. I felt so crappy that I laid down on the living room floor and almost fell asleep while she was out. After about 20 minutes, I let her back in and we went back to bed. She had settled down enough to go back to sleep for awhile. Around 6:15, she woke me up again and would not settle down, so I finally got up and took her out for her walk before 7:00 am. I felt better after the walk. However, while out on our walk, I started thinking about it being Sunday and the “routine” Ben and I used to have on Sundays and I started to cry while walking. Came home and did a loan of laundry and “repaired” Hiker's blue, fuzzy, squeaky toy. I sewed up the hole she ripped in it. Don't know how long the fix will last, but she just loves that toy so much. Today must have been a “crying” day for some reason. After taking the sheets out of the dryer, I went to make the bed and remembered Ben helping me every Sunday to put the fresh sheets on the bed and I started to sob. I had closed my bedroom door so Hiker could not come in because she loves to jump up on the bed and I can't make it if she's on it, so I closed the door. When I opened it, she was there and jumped all over me because she had heard me sobbing. Took Hiker to her class this afternoon. There were 2 other dogs there today, so it went a little better. They had us walking them on their leash, which Hiker pretty much already knows how to do and they had us go up to people in the store, hand them a dog treat and ask them to ask Hiker to sit and then give her the treat and pet her. This is to get the dog used to other people. Then they walked us through the store showing us all of the dog grooming supplies, shampoo, etc. and dog vitamins and toothpaste (yeah dog toothpaste! Think I'll just get her some Dentastix), then over to the food aisle to show us "the best food for your dog", which is always expensive. I'm going to look at Sam's Club to see if I can find a good food for her that is cheaper. When I was a kid we had or dog Candy for 15 1/2 years and never took her to a vet until the end and she ate the same food we did and we never brushed her teeth or gave her vitamins. Money, Money, Money is all they care about. I will eventually find a vet for Hiker though.