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.
Liberty, the neurotic dog
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.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
You know what the problem is, though. The problem is that you haven’t taught the old man to pour his own kibble.
Classic NYer recently posted..On the AIDS walk
THAT is next on our list of tricks to teach an old dog.
Totally such a sweet post, because I could perfectly picture the scene and as much as it would annoy me, I would have the moment of realization like you that this being needs me and is so loyal and sigh, just so sweet. Visiting from SITS.
thedoseofreality recently posted..Winning Is Not the Only Thing
Thank you for stopping by…he’s so loyal, I really should be a better human and get up the 1st time he scratches…but that bed is SO comfy!
Great story well told!
If I don’t get up and let the dog out when he’s ready in the morning, he pees on the carpet at the bottom of the stairs. I hate cleaning that up. It’s worth giving up a few minutes of sleep for that!
Stopping by from SITS.
misssrobin recently posted..Noticing Progress
It seems that your dog got the better of you that time. Just compensate for the two minutes by telling yourself that you have two more minutes in your waking hours to do something.
Vanessa recently posted..piano sheet music books
Hehe, this is perfectly described.
idiosyncratic eye recently posted..Progress and Happiness