I have my cell phone set to chime at 5:30 each morning. A nice bell tower ringing wake up call sort of thing. But I rarely get to hear it. Kooper has been making sure that I don't need those modern sort of conveniences to wake. He typically stands at the bottom of the first floor stairs and barks. It's usually around 4 or 5 or so in the morning. Sometimes before. Rarely later.
He either wants one of two things when he does that. Go out. Or get up the stairs to the second floor and his water and food. He can't do the first without help. But he can certainly do the second. And often does by the time I get downstairs. By then he's overcome his fear of steps and has made it up into the kitchen and is slurping away at his water. Other times he just might need a little verbal nudge. "Get up there you dufus!" That kind of nudge.
This morning it was the "I want water" bark that woke me at 5 AM. We have put the water bowl downstairs at night sometimes. Then, the bark shifts to the "I want out to pee" variety.
Dogs are social beings. And after six or so hours he's ready to socialize. I just think he's lonely. I've never known any other alarm that gets lonely.
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About Me
- Mark Gorman
- I was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, along the banks of the Susquehanna River, in the valley made up by Bald Eagle Mountain to the south, and gentle hills and valleys to the north. That place that sheltered me, gave me food and friends, and both physical and spiritual nourishment for 18 years. That is the space where I was physically and emotionally formed. Ever since growing up there . . . because of growing up there . . . I have been inexorably linked to nature . . . to the earth and to all life.