confession time: I hate my dog

I know this sounds horrible and mean, but ever since I've been pregnant, I have been so annoyed/grossed out by my dog.

For one, she's always been on the stinky side, but now that my sense of smell is ridiculously acute, I can't stand the way she smells--and unfortunately I can smell her when she's not even in the same room. Gross! What's sad is that it makes me NOT want to pet her at all (or even be anywhere near her), but she's such a needy/affectionate dog that I'm sure she's totally mystified by my lack of interest. Everyone thinks I'm so horrible and mean to her because I won't pet her, but I honestly just can't stand to be around her--if I touch her, I feel like I need to get up right away and wash my hands (annoying), so I just basically don't want her near me...which of course makes her want to be near me even more.

And forget about giving her a bath--I can't lift her into the tub (she won't go in on her own and she weighs 85 lbs) and I think the smell would just be amplified in a hot steamy bathroom. Wet smelly dog--ick! I wish I could afford to take her to a groomer more often--because the few days' break I get from the smell seems so worth it.

On top of the smell issue, she sheds like crazy--I could vaccuum 2 or 3 times a day and it would literally make NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER. All I can think of is how much hair there is everywhere (even in places where I know she doesn't spend time--her hair forms "packs" which drift around the house). Thank god I don't have carpeting--it would be jet black and smell just like her! Sweeping the floor is pretty easy (even in the third trimester) but it just seems SO POINTLESS. The hair just reappears within a few hours, and it looks like I've done NOTHING. How will I be able to cope with this when I have a new baby crawling around on the floor? Uggh! ). I could brush her more (that's what I usually do), but frankly sitting that close to her (even outdoors) makes my stomach turn, and now we're well into the rainy season.

Sadly, I'm the only one who really ever does anything with the dog (besides feeding), which means she isn't getting walked at all, and never gets played with. Don't worry though, folks, I'm not in any danger of giving her away because I've invested a lot of time and money into training her, and she really is a good dog. She's a really good dog that I just don't want to be around here right NOW. I secretly wish someone could come take her off my hands for a few months until the hormones settle back down, and I'm less cantankerous.