Last night, before turning out the light, I looked over at Lady and Lucky sleeping on their beds and said "Hey dogs - wake me up at 6:30!" It was a joke...mostly. Lucky generally gets restless and wants to be let out of the bedroom between 6:30-7:15 am, so I decided I'd use that as my wake up call this morning.
My relationship with my current alarm clock isn't working out. The darn thing is rounded and slick, and my efforts to reach out and silence it in the morning tend to knock it off the nightstand. As a result, most mornings the clock goes sailing through the air, a beeping projectile on a perilous trajectory toward the sleeping dogs. With any luck, it clatters to the floor instead of onto a dog, where it continues to beep obnoxiously from some unknown spot in the dark. I stumble out of bed, groping around on the floor. I inevitably feel lots of dog parts, but no clock, which makes the blasted thing beep louder and faster.
"You can't find me, you can't find me!" it taunts from somewhere in the darkness.
By the time my fingers close around it, the beeping has become a nonstop, frantic BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BEEP! In my groggy state, I'm ready to silence the racket by smashing it repeatedly against the floor. Needless to say, it's not a pleasant way to wake up. The dogs agree.
That's why I didn't set it last night, and why I jokingly told the dogs to wake me at 6:30 am. So, this morning, from far off in the twilight zone, I feel Lady's paws on the side of the bed. "Wake up" she whispers silently. I sleepily rub her soft forehead, saying "okay Ladybelle, I'm awake" without words, and she goes to lay back down. The bed feels good, but I remember that I wanted to get an early start this morning. Sleepily, I climb out of bed and make my way to the bathroom, where I grab my robe and give the clock a quick check.
Coincidence, right?
Nope, not a coincidence. I'm a firm believer that dogs (and cats) are psychic. Period.
ReplyDeleteOn a separate point, I loved the phrase "a beeping projectile on a perilous trajectory" and from there that entire paragraph was perfection!
Don't know about psychic but out dogs have excellent inner clocks that tell them when I should be feeding them , getting up, going to bed, etc.
ReplyDeleteOUR dogs, drat it
ReplyDeleteThis example I've provided really is a better example of "dogs telling time" than a demonstration of their ability to read my mind. But there have been so many instances that leave me wondering about it!
ReplyDeleteLike how does Lady know that I want her to watch Lucy? I have no words or commands for this. Yet as I watch out the window, it's clear that Lady understands what I want her to do. She follows Lucy around, looking this way and that for any possible threats. German Shepherds are herding/guarding dogs, so it makes sense that this would come naturally for her - but she never did it until I began asking her. Times like this leave me wondering if a) she can read my mind, or b) she has an astonishing grasp of the English language. Sounds like we have at least one vote for "a!" :)
they know exactly what they're doing. it may not be psychic--it may just be wanting to avoid a flying alarm clock. but they know what they're doing. i hope to never live without a dog.
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