Devon got sick recently. He ate a lot of pillow stuffing and had vomiting and diarrhea episodes for several days. He even had an accident inside the house, which has never happened before.
One night I woke up at 2:30 AM to hear him pacing back and forth on the living room floor. I sensed that something was wrong, so I got up and took him outside. The poor dog must have been fighting to keep from pooping indoors for hours! After he did his business I went back to bed.
He woke me again at 4:00 AM.
And again at 6:00 AM.
Each time, I took him out and he went. I thought at that time that I should be pissed at him, but the thing was, I wasn't pissed in the least. He was sick and needed my care, and I was more than happy to do it. Rather than anger, I felt only sympathy and concern.
It was apparent from the way Devon acted around me that day that he felt like he had done something wrong by waking me up over and over again in the middle of the night. Bill and I kept trying to reassure him that it was okay that he was sick.
Funny how our pets can be so good at teaching us about our capacity to love, without even trying.