A trying weekend

Having a cold sucks. Even if it's a minor one, it's no fun. I think pretty much everybody can agree upon that.

While I spent Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and a bit of Sunday morning on the couch, one of our dogs spent that same time span freaking the hell out.

It's Tonka. He's an Akita mix, which gives him a number of personality traits: loyal, protective, curious and "intelligent." Yeah, the "intelligent" part is in quotes. For example, if he really, really wants something, he barks. And not just a little woof. Dude barks LOUD, knowing full well that we'll come running because we don't want to hear any more of it.

That said, he has no idea how to dig. And he hates — HATES — water. Neither Chris nor I have ever seen him swim. We're convinced he might just freeze up and sink straight to the bottom.

Oh, and speaking of fear: he's afraid of coughing. No, we don't know why. We've had him for almost 10 years now and he's always been that way. (Also, he's afraid of ducks.)

I've been coughing for days now. And when Tonka is scared, he doesn't hide — he tries to climb on top of you. You know, to stay safe.

Having a big, heavy, freaked-out dog trying to climb on you while you're trying to sleep and keep both lungs inside your body doesn't do much for rest. It's mostly cleared up now, but Tonka may take longer to recover. He's been a bit twitchy today.