After midnight...

It seems that I'm always up in the middle of the night these days. Not only up, but outside with Savannah because of her ridiculous barking. This puppy is nearly one year old  now and you would think that this night-time barking of hers would have been over by now. Not only is it not over, but it's getting worse.

Little did we know that one of the traits of a Great Pyrenees is their nocturnal habits... this dog is wide awake for most of the night, in her quest to protect us. Protect us from what? Getting enough sleep? Give me a blessed break.

As I type this, I am in the breakfast room with Savannah. I have this room blocked off with two chairs in order to keep her in here and out of the kitchen. After reading one of the pet web-sites after midnight last night, it was suggested that a Great Pyrenees be kept in a dark room away from night-time stimuli. Not easy to do in a house filled with windows. Do they want me to let her sleep in a closet?  As for 'night-time stimuli,' these hills are filled with wildlife that comes out after dark, and that's more than enough stimuli for a dog to bark at because this particular dog hears every blessed little sound out there.

My husband suggested we keep her outside in the fenced-in coop. No way. All she will do out there is bark for the entire night, and not only keep us awake, but all of the neighbors as well. Plus, I don't want an outside dog. I want a dog that can be kept in the house and be clean and well-mannered and know that day-time is for playing and night-time is for sleeping, damn it.

Savannah has been quiet since I came downstairs. In all honesty, I think she's tired of being down here by herself at night. My husband doesn't want her upstairs, and neither did I when we first brought her home. For a puppy who took her own sweet time bonding with us, it now seems that she doesn't want us out of her sight. I haven't decided yet if that's a sweet thing or a bad thing. I'm too blasted tired these days to make that decision.

Last night after a similar barking session, as I stayed upstairs trying to be patient and just let her 'bark it out,' I came down here to find that she had made a hole in her bed and pulled out the stuffing, and she had also chewed on the bottom step of the back staircase. I sewed up the hole in her bed, but there's nothing I can do about her teeth marks on that first step... those marks will be a gentle reminder that puppies can, and will, sometimes do stupid things.

I've been questioning my sanity about getting this dog... being up in the middle of the night, every night, isn't exactly what I want to do for the next ten to twelve years. And being that I no longer trust her not to chew things such as a wood step or the back of a chair, Savannah will have to be boarded when we travel. She won't like that a bit, and neither will I, but I won't have her thinking that she can damage things in this house when she's not supervised.

So here I sit at 2:30 in the morning, wide awake after having walked Savannah up and down by our driveway a little while ago. She had to pee, and for that, I'm glad she woke me up. I'm wondering now if I can go back upstairs and get into bed and not have her start barking again the minute I take off my slippers, which is what she did half an hour ago.

And whose idea was it to get a dog?  Mine. All mine.  Give me a blessed break.