Late Night Last Night

About 12:30 last night, Sonya started clawing at the floor of her sleeping crate and wouldn't let up so Fio heaved herself out of bed and knelt down beside the crate to soothe Sonya with the lullaby she's lifted from Big Bang Theory. You know the one: "Soft doggie, warm doggie, little ball of fur/ Happy doggie, sleepy doggie, grr, grr, grr."

Puppy seemed to calm down so Fio went back to bed, but not for long. Sonya not only started clawing again, but added muffled whimpering to the mix. Now, Fiorella's biological imperative impels her to tend to high-pitched whimpering muy pronto so she got out of bed again, Maybe Sonya, who's finally housetrained, needed to pay a late-night visit to the backyard. Accordingly, Fio put on a robe, grabbed a handy leash, unlocked Sonya's crate, and invited her out, but Sonja just stared at her in a dazed sort of way, settled back down, and closed her eyes.

A little dazed herself, Fio went back to bed, leaving the crate shut but unlocked in case of emergency.

Half an hour before Husband's alarm clock rang, Sonya pulled herself up on the bed, spread her ample self across the area below Fio's feet, and went to sleep. Item of information: a double bed is not big enough to house two adults and one fourteen-week-old mammoth...uh...mastiff. Fio squirmed around to give herself more room, but sleep was a lost cause until Husband vacated.

Fio and Sonya slept another hour before Fio's inner clock and a nasty little dream dictated she rise and shine. Miracle of miracles--because Puppy's inner clock was running a little slower, Fio actually got to brush her teeth and put on some clothes before inviting Sonya to go downstairs with her.

The stairs are still a little tricky for Baby Dog, especially when she's just awakened, but she made it down with only a few hitches and trotted decorously to the patio door to go out and do her business.

In retrospect, Fiorella has decided that Sonya was having a doggie dream last night and wasn't even aware she was scrabbling against the floor of her crate. That would also explain why the whimpering had a muffled sound, why she seemed dazed, and why she wouldn't leave the crate: Mommy was interrupting her beauty sleep.

The important things Fio learned are that Sonya accepts the crate as her own bed, she's now strong enough to haul herself up on our bed, and that we need a soft, fitted mat for the floor of her crate to avoid further nights like this.