Penny's Snit

I'm onto Penny. She had that wool pulled over my eyes... or more accurately that underwear pulled over my head (her personal fave), and every night she dutifully tells me she really REALLY has to go out to do her business. And lately it's been ramping up to 2 times a night. I'm not at my best at 3 in the morning, and obligingly let her out. She always did her business and came right back, so I think, she must have needed to go. I'm so gullible, and she was laughing under her little doggie breath.

On reflection, I realized that she really can make it through the night. After all, she's 2-1/2 years old. She gets let out one last time around midnight, and chances are she'd be good until 6, when we get up. That's what I figured out anyway.

So I've gathered my sleepy wits around me and just told her, "No! Get back to bed", in the best semi-intelligible mumble that I can muster. I've now managed this for a few nights, and she has grudgingly shot me a look over her shoulder that clearly said, "You don't really mean that", and head down, went back to bed.

To add to a sad doggie situation, this morning it was raining. Penny hates the rain. She has always hated the rain. And cold rain is the worst. When she was younger, her alternative "spot" has has always has been on a warm dry rug. What's the problem with that, I'm sure she wondered. That wasn't so fine when she was 6 months old, but understandable, and little puppy pees are pretty manageable. But they're definitely not so fine at her age. Luckily she gave that up at 2 years old, and hasn't resorted to that yet.

But it doesn't change how much she hates the rain. And it doesn't change the fact that I have stopped letting her out in the middle of the night. And she told me what she thought of this. When I told her it was time to go out, she responded with a little low grumble under her breath, directed at me. No tail wags, no happy good morning greeting. Nothing. Penny was definitely making a statement, and it wasn't pretty.

So it's official. Our Penny was in a snit.

Contributed by Jamie Naessens