My sweet neurotic beast is almost 10 1/2 years old. In the past six months, he’s had several mornings where he’s ready to go outside before my alarm clock blares. And my body wants to sleep PAST the alarm clock blaring.
Therein lies the problem.
This morning was one of those mornings.
The timeline begins at 5:05 a.m.
scritch, scratch - Liberty’s universal signal that he wants something is to scratch on the nearest door.
He waits exactly 3 seconds. (My dog is neurotic, but very very smart)
He pads over to me.
pad..pad…pad..pad..pad..pad..pad..pad (It is exactly eight dog steps from my bedroom door to the side of my bed)
sniff…sniff…. (He sniffs to see if I’m awake — apparently I smell differently awake than asleep?)
Waits exactly 3 seconds.
He pads back to the door.
pad..pad…pad..pad..pad..pad..pad..pad
scritch, scratch
three second wait…
pad..pad…pad..pad..pad..pad..pad..pad
sniff…sniff….
This pattern repeats about three times. Each time, I pray that he’ll decide that he can wait just until the alarm goes off at 6:00.
Eventually, he lays down next to the bed, resigned to the fact that I’m not awake yet.
And then, I’ll have a hair tickling my nose, or a cold shoulder or a need for a Kleenex, and I have to move to take care of it. I spend a minute or two trying to decide if it’s worth it. One single solitary move from me will result in the dog thinking I’m one step closer to being awake and begin the pattern all over again.
Eventually, the tickling hair will win, I will move my arm to get rid of it, and the dog will immediately jump up with high hopes that now I might be roused from my slumber.
pad..pad…pad..pad..pad..pad..pad..pad
scritch, scratch
three second wait…
pad..pad…pad..pad..pad..pad..pad..pad
sniff…sniff….
I lay perfectly still.
pad..pad…pad..pad..pad..pad..pad..pad
scritch, scratch
three second wait…
pad..pad…pad..pad..pad..pad..pad..pad
sniff…sniff….
He finally gives up again and flops down (noisily) on the floor.
But now, I’m wide awake from counting his steps, counting his waiting seconds (because I’m so terribly Type A that I count such ridiculous things).
And I wonder if I should just get up.
The bed is so comfy.
The coffee isn’t ready yet.
I open one eye.
I see him waiting patiently there on the floor.
I know that he follows me everywhere.
He’s devoted and loyal and loving and sweet.
And I’m being selfish.
So, two minutes before the alarm is set to sound, I roll out of bed, stumble around for my glasses and head for the door.
He’s instantly bouncing along beside me. Yes, he still bounces even at his advanced age.
She’s awake. She’s awake! Holy cow, I can’t believe it, she’s awake!!!!
We get to the kitchen. I open the back door.
He sits down and looks at me. He doesn’t want out.
He throws a side-long glance toward his food bowl.
The bugger is HUNGRY.
Sigh. THAT could have waited two minutes.
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