September 8, 2010

White Dog, or should we say The Creature of the Night, kept us all awake last night as she decided to reverse her normal cycles of wakefulness and sleep. Needless to say, she was neither Michael's nor Steve's favorite this morning when the alarm sounded at 5 am (just minutes after she had finally gone to sleep).

First, she had trouble getting settled. White Dog was on the bed, then under the chair, then scratching to make a nest on the floor. She blocked Quinn from coming in through the dog door and then she chased him back to the office where he sleeps. After "lights out," her restlessness continued. She was in...and then out...prompting The Other White Dog to arise and go out to check on her. White Dog came snarling in at his heels and made it quite clear that she did not need--or want--his help.

I checked WD over and listened to her body; she seemed fine and not sick. Then she went out on the deck where we could hear her pacing and chuffing. Next she was barking like a lunatic at the back of the yard and refused to come in. Steve got up to see what White Dog was so upset about, and discovered...nothing!

I called White Dog up on the bed and held her against me as I calmly whispered relaxing thoughts. Steve had just about drifted off to sleep when the Ghost Dog twisted out of my arms and headed back out of the dog door. Steve was fast losing his usual unflappable character since once again White Dog was barking for nothing more than the fun of it (or so it seemed). We had a 3am discussion about locking down the door but decided that it might cause Quinn to have an accident and that White Dog pawing at the door and whining was no better than her barking (well maybe it was for the neighbors!).

Finally, at a little before 4am White Dog ran out of steam. She jumped up on the bed and climbed on the chest of the again nearly asleep Steve and wanted to be cuddled. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "You have cost me a night's sleep, Little One," he said. "Maybe I will stay home today just so I can be here to wake you every time you start to close your eyes to nap!" White Dog surely would have found his proposition unacceptable if she had heard it...but she was fast asleep.