Cluster

Today has calmed down significantly. This morning was a complete clusterfuck.
The dogs would not let me sleep in - I was only hoping to stay in bed until 7am but at 6:58 all the dogs were up and one was puking under my bed. I should have known the day would be "interesting" but I'm trying to be positive and follow the law of attraction.
I thought I took the rude awakening rather well and just continued with my morning getting breakfast ready for everyone, doing my shot, and getting a shower. It all started to plummet when I went to let the dogs out and J was growling and protecting the food he didn't eat. I managed to get him out of the room & the food picked up while Zu waited patiently in his crate. I let him out and we headed to the door to get everyone outside. J came in and went after Zu immediately. A tussle like that isn't abnormal; someone gets rolled over and there's a raucous. But this morning Zu rolled J back over and attacked back. I could tell instantly things had escalated and we had a real fight happening. I tried to use the bath towel still wrapped around my wet hair to break them up, then Gato (our big male tabby) came running in and literally jumped on the pile of dogs. That worked for only a second and I tried to keep them apart but failed.
At this point I'm freaking out. They are gnawing on each other and I can see both are covered in blood. I'm worried I won't be able to break them up and they're just going to kill each other like wild dogs. I was yelling by this point as if that would help. As if hearing they might kill each other or that I could go into labor with all this drama would make them stop.
Next I tried to use the dog bed to break them up, then the rolling desk chair (stupid idea it was the least helpful item). Then I hear a familiar shrieking - Gato is back, screaming like a banshee and jumping on the dogs - AGAIN. All that did was get him tossed aside and tufts of his fur went flying. I moved on to the baby gate at this point - thrusting it into the swirling mass of basenji trying to separate them. I think what ended up working was that they were tired. I got them into the hallway and they were no longer rolling around. I grabbed J (who had Zu's neck in his mouth) and just shooshed them and tried to calm them down. I pulled J off Zu and thought - SUCCESS!
Nope. Zu came after him again and I tried to prevent him from making contact by lifting J off the ground by his scruff. So here I am swinging my 30lb dog by the scruff of his neck, about 3ft off the ground while the other dog leaps up and grabs onto some part of him. So as if I had not already surpassed the weight I'm supposed to lift I'm now swinging 2 dogs in the air. Zu quickly loses his grip and fortunately it's just as J is being swung in front of the bathroom. I threw him inside and slammed the door.
I'd had it. I'd physically and emotionally had it. I walked into my room leaving J in the bathroom and Zu in the hall to lick their wounds and I collapsed on my bed. By now I'm hyperventilating. That was more of a workout than I'd had since June or July. I was shaking and a bit worried about myself at that point. I needed to calm down and get my breathing under control so I called D. Of course he was out-of-town today! I know this would have never happened if he were home. He would have just grabbed a dog at the beginning. I stupidly thought the fight would not escalate and of course I didn't want to risk getting bit in the mix. I woke D up; he probably thought I was in labor, but I tried to get enough words out so he knew I was okay. As my breathing got under control, I could feel my lungs burning and I started coughing. I'm still coughing hours later. I hope it's just due to irritation and my defenses didn't get low enough to let one of the bugs going around settle into my chest.
So now it's early evening and finally, after the morning melee, 2 visits to the vet (1 for each bastard-ass basenji), and $400 in vet bills I'm relaxing. I'm not relaxed yet, but relaxing. Tonight D will be home and the dogs will spend their first evening in their new dens. We bought them for when the baby comes and have had them setup for awhile so the dogs could get used to them. We hadn't planned to have them start sleeping in there until I went on leave but things change. They may not even spend the night in the bedroom at this point. It's not that I'm angry. They're dogs, and not the most domesticated breed so I know these things can happen. I mainly just need my rest. I need to focus on me tonight after focusing on them all day.
So much for tackling anything on my "to do" list today. I'd like to say I'll make up for that tomorrow but I won't and shouldn't. I'll just pick a couple items and then plan to relax all afternoon and evening. I'm starting to take some half-days next week at work. I hit a wall around 2:30pm everyday and by then it seems pointless to deal with the hassle of the comfort room so I just work through the exhaustion. I imagine this is just going to get worse so I asked if I could split my personal days into halves and take a couple each week. I hope that does the trick.
Speaking of naps - I think I should take one before I make myself or the pets dinner.