Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Tuesday, September 27, 2016 -- Mattie died 367 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2003. Mattie was a year and a half and loved all things RED, not to mention anything with a wheel. Mattie showed me early on that some things are hard wired into children. Mattie had a natural tendency to gravitate to cars, trucks, buses, trains, and planes. He was fascinated by wheels and motion. Peter introduced Mattie to this firetruck ride-on vehicle that Peter's parents gave him. I am not sure what Mattie loved more..... the horn, the bell, actually washing the truck with a hose, or riding on it! 



Quote of the day: Listen long enough and the person will generally come up with an adequate solution. ~ Mary Kay Ash

We have had Sunny for over three weeks now. He is the perfect dog in so many ways, except his sleeping habits. Actually we can put him and Indie in the same category. They are both nocturnal. We have been trying to break our cat of the habit of howling at night and pouncing all over us and the bed for months. Not just once, but throughout the night. Frankly this reminds me of Patches, our calico. Patches was also very vocal and nocturnal. Which is why both cats needed to be confined to another bedroom at night. Eventually Patches broke that pattern and we could let her freely roam our home at night. But it took years for this success. Breaking a dog of this pattern, seems more complicated, especially a dog like Sunny. Sunny is very driven by being in our presence. He is very human focused.

Sunny wakes up EVERY morning anywhere from 3 to 5am. NOT my hour!!! The link below to the article entitled, "The real reason your pup is waking you up at night," discusses many explanations for why dogs wake up mid-night. Sometimes they are sick, have to go to the bathroom, or are hungry. However, if this happens consistently like with us, then the article suggests that it is boredom. The author says the dog needs more stimulation and physical exercise. I walk Sunny 4-7 miles every day. In two or three mile increments at a time. I think Sunny needs a lot of mental stimulation too, which is why going down to the National Mall and hunting and chasing squirrels is very good for him. But clearly we need to break this pattern because both Peter and I are feeling like zombies. Similar to how we felt when Mattie was a newborn! I have tried locking Sunny out of our bedroom twice over the weekend, and it worked. So I am afraid this is the alternative we have to follow until he get used to the fact that 3, 4, or 5 am wake ups aren't tolerated. 

Basically Sunny currently goes to bed in our bedroom on his dog bed. Which is at the foot of our bed. He has NO problem retiring to his bed and falling asleep. He just won't stay asleep! I plan on moving his bed downstairs tonight and see what happens.

Meanwhile this afternoon, I had to escape and I took myself out to lunch at our local Garden Cafe. I knew about this Cafe when I was a graduate student. A professor of mine introduced me to the cafe! It is one of my favorite places because it is small, but the food is so fresh and wonderful. The day started out cool, but by the afternoon it was in the 70's and very lovely to sit outside, watch people, and regroup. 


The real reason your pup is waking you up at night:
http://www.sheknows.com/pets-and-animals/articles/1092411/why-does-my-dog-wake-me-up-at-night