You may recall that I recently complained about Sam NOT waking me up when we were transitioning into DST (sheesh, makes you wonder, are we humans EVER satisfied?) but when he wakes me up for this kind of stuff…well it makes for a less than cheerful upright.
During the work week, I normally rise at 5 AM to get in our morning walk, to shower, make coffee & lunch, and get any quick domestic chores out-of-the-way before leaving to catch the bus. I’ve done it for at least a hundred years so now it seems part of the my DNA. Dogs likewise tend to be early risers too, mostly because, well, it’s what dogs do especially given they have the rest of the day to sleep. Biology sort of dictates they need to empty their bladders first thing, and because I’m a morning person anyway, I’m good with that.
My house has mostly hardwood floors, so you definitely know when the dog walks across the room. Click, click, click. In the bedrooms there are large area rugs to warm the tootsies up on cold mornings and to soften that clicking sound. Normally this is a pretty effective strategy. This morning at around 4:30-ish I hear this faint click, click, click, stomp, stomp, stomp in the back of my head. I’m in the middle of a techno-color dream and the temperature of the bed is at cozy on an otherwise cool morning and that background sound is disruptive but I continue to dream for a few more seconds. Click, click, click, stomp, stomp, stomp. This means Sam has gotten up from his bed, walked around my bed to see my face with the hope that my eyes will open and the day will begin. I’m fully awake now but keep my eyes closed hoping he’ll get the hint to wait a half an hour but the stomping (on the rug) has become more insistent. Heavy stomp, heavy stomp, heavy stomp. I swear when Sam goes into this mode, he rivals Michael Flatley with his racket step-dancing. I look over, open my eyes and see Sam wagging his tail, all cheerful and everything and so happy to see me awake. I groan with, “Dude, it’s not time yet!” STOMP, STOMP, STOMP…the noise continues. Ugh. Most times when Sam wakes up early he just wants to get up on the bed with me and cuddle. I tap the pillow and up he pops in a flash. He circles like he’s about to get into the cuddle position but only lays down and stares at me then restlessly circles around the bed again and then quickly jumps down, an indication that suggests all is not well on the digestive front and that he needs to go outside…now. Delay in getting a dog outside when their tummy is upset is like playing Russian Roulette. Too quick and you have disrupted your nice warm setting and slumber, too late and you’re spending the next 45 minutes on a date with paper towels, disinfectant, and a mop. Yeah, that kind of upset tummy. Ew.
Not wanting to start the week out like that, I drag my sorry self out of bed, look to see if it’s raining as Doofas is bouncing up and down like a pogo stick. He cannot contain his joy-his antics have worked;surely he’s the best wizard in the world since his spells seem to make me do whatever he wants me to do. I quickly dress, we fly toward the back door and he runs out like he’s been shot out of a cannon. But wait…he stops and tracks back, there’s some intriguing scent and he’s Johnnie on the spot to check it out. As I walk down the driveway toward the alley, he bounces over, realizing ‘oh yeah, I’m out here to do some serious business’ and he goes to his reliable pee spot at the fence, sniffs, circles, sniffs some more and then circles back again…and then…ahhh, eureka! the leg lifts up and a tiny piddle trickles out. What the…?! A barely 3-second dribble and then he bounces back toward the back door. Are you freaking kidding me?! ;(
He seemed so pleased with himself, I didn’t even grumble out loud mostly because of my sleepy stupor, so I just turn out the light and decided to crawl back into bed for 20 minutes or so till I warm up again and the news came on. Funny how once relieved of a tablespoon of liquid, Sam still is not content to lie down till the proper appointed get-up time. He continues to click, click, click, stomp, stomp, stomp but not to the extent as he was earlier. Argh! The alarm finally goes off, I hear of all sorts of world pandemonium and my day begins with a stern voice to the fluffy head laying across my lap in the bathroom as I do my morning thing (I know, TMI, sorry-just want you to get the full picture of a day in the life sort of thing…). This dog knows no boundaries at the bathroom door-it just means mom needs help and though I have no thumbs, I can lay across her lap, look up with my soulful amber eyes, wag my tail and all is right in the world. Yeah, not really, but why deal with door scratching and whining at the crack of dawn when I have a built-in leg warmer during those moments. It’s the ritual and wherever he is at in the house, once he hears the toilet paper roll being rotated (even quietly), he’s there even if he’s been in a dead sleep! I kid you not. I tell him he’s a brat and wonder out loud “what were you thinking by waking me up earlier than normal?” He just wags his tails, knowing I’m a sucker for this, smile and I scratch his ear. Again, more pawsome wizard spells by the dog (maybe he should have been named Harry Potter or Dumbledore because he is indeed a very powerful wizard).
Being a morning person, I revel in this time of day. It’s relatively quiet with only the milkman’s van and a few chirping birds welcoming the daylight with noise on my block. Because we’ve had a tiny shower during the night, the ground smells earthy and worms inch their way across sidewalks to dry out from sodden soil. I use this morning time to plan the work day while we go for our walk/run and to see the crystalline light on dew drops on blossoms. I love this time of day; the soft light gives such a glow to everything; it’s breathtakingly beautiful, especially when the sky is ablaze with a bright orange sunrise. The day hasn’t had a chance to run the proverbial nail down the internal chalkboard in my mind–the time is peaceful and lovely. Or it would be if a certain dog didn’t get a wild hair to set everything on its end with a silly wake up call! Maybe tomorrow all will return to bliss…sigh. 🙂
Does your dog wake you up early for apparently no good reason? How do you handle it?
Live, love, bark! <3