in an effort to further along our outside-the-box lifestyle all the dogs sleep in the bedroom with us (actually just 15 dogs as astrid has never been interested in sleeping with us…and we try to not be offended by that). we all have a pretty good understanding of the rules and regulations and try to stick to them to the best of our ability (not once have i woken up in the middle of the night to find dave soiling the carpet). one of the rules has been don’t mess with our sleep pattern unless it's an emergency. our sleep pattern for years has been based on the younger dogs waking up and barking to go out between 6-7 am at which time usually dave will get up to let them out (i have the enviable ability to sleep through anything so they don’t wake me up) and then return to bed. we have a door to our backyard in the bedroom so a return to sleep is fairly easy. anywhere from a half hour to an hour later pretty much everyone else will start loitering around and i’ll get up and let them out and then start the feeding process.
it was a great system and we all seemed to be on the same page, that is until a few weeks ago when something misfired concurrently in each and every dog head in this house and chaos has ensued ever since. the system seems the same, a lot of the dogs start whining and barking between 6-7 and dave gets up to let them out…and they. do. not. go. out! not one dog goes out – not one. not one single dog in fifteen dogs will go out. you might be thinking “well, so what’s the big deal – obviously no one needs or wants to go out yet.” that’s what i thought too the first day and maybe it’s a correct one since what they seem to want to do is in 15 minute intervals bark and whine and not go out. you can’t sleep through 15 minutes intervals of barking and whining so we’ve been robbed of that much needed sleep between what used to be two trips to the door. it’s absolute insanity akin to bitching and moaning but not doing a damn thing to help yourself even when the answer is right in front of your face …and the answer is to go outside! we’re tired and have feeble-minded dogs.