Sunday 19 June 2011

This is what it looks like when a Dalmatian wants you to wake up.

Last week, I babysat for my boss' dog.

5:30 AM.  I am not at my best.
 He is a slightly neurotic animal, to put it mildly.  Dalmatians have all kinds of quirks from centuries of inbreeding, so it is only partly his fault.  He is a cute little guy, and it is obvious his owners lavish him with care and attention, because they love him a whole lot.

What this means for those of us who aren't his loving parents, however, is that we have a big empty shoe to fill.  When he was giving me the instructions, my boss mentioned that he wasn't sure where the dog would choose to sleep, as he typically sleeps in the master bed but might prefer to sleep with me rather than in his customary location.  When I went up to bed the first night I was there, there was no question:  the dog was in bed before me, just waiting.  I have never had a dog who not only wanted to sleep in bed with me, but wanted to sleep in a location as if he was another person, up against my back

Oh and also, super cute, he wanted to get up at 5:30.  Charming.

The second night, Brandon came to help me, because he had a day off the next day and could afford the extra  travel time in the morning.  We walked the dog, we went to whole foods and bought fresh scallops to sear for a salad (with fresh greens courtesy of my boss' garden), we made dinner, and we snuggle up on the sofa.  The dog of course snuggled right up next to us - apparently, snuggling on the sofa is something he does.  The real trouble came when we decided it was bedtime.

We walk up the stairs to the guest bedroom, and once again, the dog is in bed before I can get there.  Only this time, there were two of us looking to sleep in the bed with the dog, and we are talking about a guest futon, a decently hefty lady, a 6'1 dude with real shoulders, and a 70lb Dalmatian.  Not to mention, he did not want to sleep at the foot of the bed, at our feet, he literally wanted pride of place in the bed.  This did not work out well, as you can imagine.  I think Brandon and I got 3 hours of sleep total that night, together.

Sigh.  He is a cute little guy though.


What?  Why wont you just play with me?

2 comments:

  1. haaahahah that sounds a lot like what Brady does.. though he's just 35 lbs and doesn't take up AS much room.. we make him sleep mostly towards the foot of the bed, but if we let him he would LOVE to sleep right up between our heads. thankfully he more often sleeps in our closet now..

    that is one cute pup though! :)

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  2. awwww he's adorable! we just started crating vinny at night every night and he is totally cool with it. we just say "night night" and he finds his favorite toy in the house, grabs it and heads into his cage. but he's 45 lbs. and loves to be on the bed...it doesn't work very well for us, ha.

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