My furry alarm clock
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I am not a morning person, although I really try to be. I set 3 alarm clocks at varying distances from my bed so that at some point, I actually have to get up to turn off the loudest one. Unfortunately, most of the time, I am still half-asleep and just end up turning them all off, and I am ultimately late for class… or I was in the past.
I have not had a problem oversleeping since Cody came to live with me. Every morning, between 7 and 8 am, he wakes up, stretches his legs against me, pushing me to the edge of the bed, and then uses my back or rear as a spring-board as he leaps from the bed. If I don't get up right away, he grumbles loudly as he walks back and forth between the bed and the door.
When he first came to live with me, I would just open the bedroom door to let him into the living and dining rooms so he could get to the window to look outside as well as his food and water, and I would lay back down for an hour before taking him outside for his morning walk. I have since come to realize that isn't what he wants. He wants me to wake up and join him for breakfast and watching for cats, birds, and squirrels (our downstairs neighbor has a cat that they let out every morning, one of the reasons we go out a little later) as well as anything else that moves, like lawnmowers and maintenance workers.
Now he plays the make-sure-Crystal-is-awake-game. After he leaps from the bed and I get up to open the door, just as I put my hand on the doorknob, he jumps back on the bed and lays back down, like he has changed his mind. That early in the morning, I am still sleep-addled, so I think, "Great, I can lie back down for just a little longer". Just as I am getting back in bed, he rushes back to the door. This happens about 5 or 6 times, and then I am awake enough to realize what he is doing, and I give up and just leave the bedroom with Cody trailing behind me.
I?m not sure if this is really his aim, but needless to say, I haven't had any real need for my alarm clocks since Cody moved in.
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How old is Cody? Under a year? Even my 2 1/2 year old is content to stay in bed late. And if the weather is rainy or cold, I have to drag their little curly butts out the door. The 2 year old malinois is another story, but she's hubby's dog, so that's his problem. :p
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Cody is 3 years old. Once or twice a week, he will sleep in, but I think it's a combination of the amount of exercise he gets (and the time) and things going on outside. We go for a few long walks everyday, but I also take him to the tennis courts in the evenings when no one is using them because that is the only place that he can run off leash (they are gated). I chase him, he chases me, it's lots of fun. On the weekends I take him really late at night because that's the only time they are empty and we play chase for about an hour or more. He will sleep in the next day unless he hears people outside or lawnmowers in the mornings. Even then, though, sometimes he will come back to sleep after checking things out.
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Crystal, sounds like Cody is a one off for being alert in the mornings.
I think my Benji would have stayed in bed all day if he could have. He was very active on walks but seemed to conserve energy whilst in the house. He hated to be woken up, just like me, lol.
What a good idea to exercise him in tennis courts. -
Great story - my 1st basenji was a sleep as late as possible type; my 2nd basenji would get up around 7 every day; my current basenji gets up as soon as we hear the birds outside the window (4:30 some mornings :(). But none of them do the antics Cody does.
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That is a sweet story, thank you for sharing..My Otis wakes me up at about 6:30-7 am but I think that is because the alarm goes off, I snooze, but he thinks it is truly time to get up. If i ignore him he will start his only howl/sound I have ever heard him make and it will get louder the longer I ignore him. So needless to say we are up no later than 7 with Otis…weekends or not..
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I used to always have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I would want to sleep as late as possible, usually getting out by 8-9am. Ever since I got my B, I've been up by 6:30-7am every morning, and now it's simply 2nd nature.
Once my alarm goes off he is up and ready to go. Usually rooing and digging his paws into my back. Funny how it works.
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That's the exact opposite with my resident and so far our past 4 fosters. Whoever gets up first can get ready in complete peace. No one staring at you when you eat your cereal. Nothing. They do not get out of bed until I make them. I think Dash is hoping I will forget about him and leave him in bed under the covers.
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That would be nice, getting ready in the mornings in peace. I even have to leave the bathroom door open while I'm showering, because if not, he will try to wake my roommate up. But when he actually walks into the bathroom and I peek around the shower curtain, he looks so worried as he tilts his head to the side, like "oh no, she's in the place with all the water!" Then he runs out. It's so cute.
This morning, there was a slight change, but it was my doing. After our normal back-and-forth between the bed and the door, instead of making coffee like I normally do, I curled up in the window seat in the living room and fell back asleep. It seems he was perfectly content with that since I woke up 2 hours later (running late for class as usual) with him snuggled up next to me.
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That's the exact opposite with my resident and so far our past 4 fosters. Whoever gets up first can get ready in complete peace. No one staring at you when you eat your cereal. Nothing. They do not get out of bed until I make them. I think Dash is hoping I will forget about him and leave him in bed under the covers.
I envy you guys with sleepy B's! My 6 mo. old puppy wakes me up between 5 and 6 every morning - there's no need for any of us to be up that early, she doesn't want to go out right away, she's just up and wanting to play. Then of course, when breakfast and the walk is done, she goes back to bed! Grrrrrr!
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Cody is the same way most of the time. After his morning walk (aka the chasing of the squirrels and cats), he walks around for a few minutes to see what everyone else is doing and checks on me in the shower, but usually by the time I'm dressed for school, I can find him either asleep in his window seat or on my bed.
