So you know you might be a cranky pants when you wake up singing that song by Kelis whose chorus is “I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW!” That song is about her man, but my reason was about my dog. I think he’s nocturnal. And I haven’t watched enough Caesar Millan or read enough of my dog training book to know how to calm-assertively get him to lay the fuck down and go to sleep already, it’s 1:43am for the love!
A little about our sleeping arrangements. We bring his doggie bed into our room and he sleeps on that near the foot of the bed. I think he’d rather be in bed with us, but, um, no. So in the middle of the night he gets up and walks around. This wouldn’t be a big deal if we didn’t wake up and find some shredded paper or towel or rug (turns out we don’t need a shredder after all!) or a smelly puddle.
He’s much more puppy-like than we’d expected.
So I’ve been waking up 2x a night. When I hear his claws click around on the hardwoods, I jump up and we run outside. This happens around 1 and around 5. We’ve tried wearing him out, giving him less water, etc. Hopefully this will just be part of the breaking-in period. Yes, I know I need to be broken-in as well.
Anyway, so I’m tired. And haven’t gotten much Jen time. The past 2 weeks have been unusually busy in the evenings and I think its effects on me are starting to show. I slinked out of work early to avoid telling my boss to suck it. I love her, but oh my god if she asked for one more last-minute project, I might have gone artist-version-of-postal and splattered chalk ink on anyone who walked by.
I hopped on my bike and wanted to yell, “WHAT THE FUCK?” to about 6 cars in 10 minutes. I decided then and there that I needed to speak to no one, e-mail no one, text no one and avoid all calls until I either 1) rested, 2) watched my DVR’d Sex and the City reruns and knitted, or 3) hung up all the clothes I’d worn over the past 2 weeks and had piled on the dresser in an apparent attempt to see if I had enough clothes to reach the ceiling. (Probably. But it didn’t get that bad.)
I did all of those. And I feel better, and I’ve realized a few issues in my life that need work, perhaps made more apparent by dog ownership. Damn that internal magnifying glass that is relationships with other beings.
Didn’t you say he’s an IG? From what I know of the breed (I worked in a dog store for about 9 months and saw several, plus one of the groomers there owned one who came to work with her every day), they tend to be a bit needy/hyper. Some of it should wear off with age, though. Have y’all thought about crate training? It really soothes lots of dogs.
I totally feel you on the lack of personal time. Must always make that a priority! Hope everyone adjusts into a new routine soon.
Hi!
Yeah, they do have a lot of energy, which is why walking with him 2x a day is mandatory. And he has a crate that we put him in when we leave the house but I don’t think he’s a fan of it just yet. I definitely don’t want to crate him for 8 hours a day AND at night.
We’ve only had him a few weeks and he’s definitely adjusting better, so there’s hope.