Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Training

I sleep on a futon on a frame; I have since a friend gave me the frame in grad school. In total, I'm maybe 8-12 inches off the floor.

Generally, I don't think my futon preference is of much interest to anyone. It's a little unusual, I suppose, but I don't think it ranks up there in sleeping weirdness with my friend who has to use a stool to get onto her massive bed.

Anyway, file that information under TMI as soon as my little rant is done.

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My sibling's 17 year old dog is staying with me once again (I guessed wrong at her age last year, but here's a pic). As you can see from the pic, she's fairly small, say about 10 inches at the shoulder.

My little guest has decided that we should get up sometime between 5 and 6 am. She alerted me to this decision the other morning by sticking her face up to mine (see, the futon information makes sense now, doesn't it) and breathing. I'm sure there are worse ways to wake up in the morning than a blast of dog breath right to the face, but I don't want to experience them; heck, I don't even want to know about them.

Dog breath is, well, nasty. People will tell you that their dogs don't have bad breath, but if the dog breathes in your face before 6am, you'll know they do.

People will also tell you that their cats never get on the kitchen counters. You shouldn't believe that, either. The kitchen counter thing is one of the great advantages most dogs have over most cats; dogs are usually too unagile or stupid to get up and walk on the kitchen counters. This isn't a moral issue; they would if they could. The other great advantage to most dogs is that they aren't really smart enough to revenge-pee, which some cats do. I knew a woman whose cat peed repeatedly on her boyfriend's stuff when he'd spend the night. That's a relationship killer right there.

The thing is, when a dog blasts you with its breath in the morning, it means only one thing, and I can't ignore that. So up I get, slip on something so I won't get arrested (because it's summer! Yay!), put on my glasses, and trudge to let her out.

She comes along quite happily, hits the grass, squats decisively, and then it's time to play. Seriously, she wants to play. I've tried going back to bed, but she stands there looking disappointed and concerned, and breathing at me, eying my face up close. (I don't think she can see much at this point, but she fakes it well.)

I'm going to have to start going to bed earlier. She's training me.

7 comments:

  1. Good luck with her! My parents' dog does the same thing. Apparently dawn is the best play time.

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  2. You're lucky she isn't a lab... the standard 'wake up and let me out' tool is a wet, smelly tennis ball. Believe me, dog breath doesn't get better when it's been fermenting on a dirty tennis ball.

    On the other hand, I've had the Minion recently wake me to throw his favorite Starburst (yes, the candy) so he can fetch it. The nice thing is that we play this game with me still in bed!

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  3. My former dog revenge-pee'd on mr. delagar's favorite baseball cap when we first linked up.

    Not a deal breaker, oddly enough, though he and Jake (the dog) were locked in mortal combat ever after.

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  4. Sounds like my son, actually. Well, not the bad breath part, so much. But screaming from his crib at 6am? Sure. And when we bring him into the bed to get a few more minutes of rest, he treats us like we're two great big mountains to climb and punch and giggle at.

    Babies and dogs = not so different.

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  5. I have no delusions about the fact that my cats (and one in particular) like to counter surf. That is why I sanitize all counters prior to cooking/baking activities.

    And yes, dog breath is nasty.

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  6. only one of my cats does the counter. [yes, i'm sure, but one is enough.] she is the same one who has a morning wakeup routine, which involves jumping up on humans and purring insistently, pawing at faces, and occasionally sticking her furry tail up a nose.

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  7. Anonymous1:38 PM

    1. I have a futon in the guest room (also my office) that I sleep on regularly, esp. during "those" nights. I love it.

    2. My cat brings me a stuffed animal every morning. It's too cute.

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