Sunday, January 5, 2014

Sweet Dreams

Katie is a sound sleeper. And when I say sound sleeper, I mean a sleep so deep that on two separate occasions this past year I was briefly convinced that she had died in her sleep. I knelt beside her, my heart pounding wildly, shaking her - "Katie!" "Katie!" Finally, after an eternity...movement. And then she would slowly clamber to her feet, confused look on her face, no doubt wondering "What's going on? What is all this fuss about?" As my heart rate slowly returned to normal, I would marvel that any creature could sleep so deeply that she could sleep through such repeated shaking and shouting.

Last week, when it was time for the dogs to have some leftovers from breakfast, Katie was off in dreamland, far far away. Just for fun, I decided to conduct a little experiment. I decided to put her eggs down in front of her nose, and see how long it took her to smell them and wake up. Keep in mind that this dog's universe and life priorities consist of #1 food, and #2 of....  well, there is no #2. Food is the sun, and Katie orbits around it.


It took 3 minutes and 25 seconds. An impressively long time, I thought. 



I bet in Katie's world, waking up to find scrambled eggs lying in front of your nose is akin to winning the lottery. I would imagine as far as she's concerned it doesn't get much better than that.

Where did that come from? Is there any more??

No more for now Miss Katie, go back to sleep. Sweet dreams...


10 comments:

  1. haha! That's how my Shadow was in his older years. And, I know that awful feeling of thinking that he was dead when he was just sleeping very soundly. Oh those were awful mornings! He didn't awaken to the sound of breakfast being put in his bowl. I couldn't even see his ribs moving. But, then he would wake up, and look at me as if to say, "what are you worried about?" lol I never did a test like this though. :)

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    1. I did not realize this was a common thing among older dogs! Katie is deaf as a post, so I'm used to her not responding to sounds. But truly, it freaked me out the first time I couldn't rouse her from sleep. Eggs seems to be an effective method of calling her back from dreamland however.

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  2. The (2-legged) lady of the house often scolds me for waking up the (4-legged) lady of the house, just so I can see if she's still with us! Same thing - she sleeps so soundly that it sometimes frightens me. I'm bad to wake up in the middle of the night and go check all of her usual sleeping spots to make sure she's ok. (she's 11 now) Brenda- would you have EVER thought THIS knucklehead neanderthal would evolve into a nervous-nellie-mother hen???

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    1. With Katie about 13 years old, I totally understand that! Now I've not yet woken her up to check on her, but when I pat her good night, I always hope that I'm going to be able to wish her good morning. I don't obsess about it, but it does cross my mind! At this age, we just appreciate each day. Who knows, she's a hardy little dog, so she may be around at 16. So it's not good to spend too much time mentally going in that direction. But also, hard to completely ignore.

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  3. I so loved this! What a sweetie. And, yes, it was an experiment, but you're right…can you imagine waking up to one of your favorite foods right in front of your nose as if by magic?! One of my old Collie girls used to do the deep sleep of Miss Katie.

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    1. For me, it would be awakening to a plate of quesadillas and tortilla chips, with a margarita alongside! I daresay that would wake me up from any sleep. :-)

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  4. Oh Katie, she's so sweet. I really just want to hug her. :)

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    1. She really is such a sweetie. I can never stop myself from rubbing her soft floppy little ears, upon which she will promptly shake herself vigorously to rid herself of my fawning! But she's a pretty good sport about it overall.

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    1. That's for sure. I wish I could sleep as soundly as Katie!

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