How do you handle taking care of a pet when you are feeling low and down.

I am at work now and literally counting down the minutes until I can go home and put my pjs on and climb into bed.

The thing is, I have my dog. He will need a walk and it's something that I haven't been doing too much of lately. I'm such a bad mom, I feel, sometimes. How do you handle taking care of a precious, helpless animal when you can't even take care of myself. It's not fair.

I mean, don't get me wrong, he gets fed, and I take him out every time he needs to go out. But I don't play with him like I should or walk him after work (long) like he deserves. I usually want to just snuggle with him, but I have to remember he's not my personal stuffed animal. He is a dog, and he doesn't want stuff like that. I just want to be the best mom I can be - to him.