Who Needs an Alarm Clock?

I'm a pretty deep sleeper; I've always been. However, I find that setting my cellphone's alarm to vibrate and placing it on my wooden bedside table to be very effective. Others in the house, on the other hand, use obnoxious and loud alarms that are equally annoying and ineffective.

But despite the wonderful waking powers of a loudly vibrating cellphone, I have discovered an alarm clock with near perfect get-your-ass-out-of-bed-ability. What's the name of this magnificent device? you might ask. Why, none other than LILAH!

It's 8 AM, and you're snug in your bed, dreaming gentle dreams, when you hear something odd penetrate your REM sleep. *Scritch* *Scritch* The sound of claws scratching against the painted wood of your bedroom door, followed by a muffled whimper. Maybe it's an instinctual reaction reaching back to those primal days when men feared beasts descending upon them in their sleep, and so grew unconsciously hyper-aware to the sound of claws, I can't really say. But I'm awake.

The dogs are not allowed upstairs where the flooring is predominately carpeted. Ritter though, with his insecurities, found a way to knock down the makeshift barrier (ok, really just a package of Bounty paper towels) and make his way upstairs. He usually does it during the day when no one is downstairs. Interestingly while Ritter is running around upstairs trying to locate my mom, Lilah remains downstairs calmly lying about the hallway.

That being the case, how come my mom never complains to me about Ritter scratching at her door in the morning to wake her up? Sure, she'll come across him, sitting pretty and waiting for her outside the bathroom in the morning, but that's after she's already woken up on her own accord.

*Sigh* So purchase yourself an alarm clock dog today. The cost? Only a couple extra hours of sleep everyday.

Touch!

If you're around the house in the afternoon, you might find yourself annoyed by the constant repetition of "Touch."

It's a simple game/training exercise of getting the dog to touch an object (my hand) with its paw or nose. It's pretty easy to teach and can be a fun challenge for your dog. In conjunction with treats I also use a clicker to accustom the dogs to future click-training. I think touch is usually the starting off point for more demanding skills like turning off lights, closing doors, etc.

But I have a problem. The dogs, being miniature, can't reach the light switches even if we had easily dog-accessible switches for them to try to turn off. I tried to get them to shut the cabinet door as a precursor to closing actual doors, but the loud slamming sound disconcerts them. What to do?

They do enjoy it though, as limited as it is right now. Both Ritter and Lilah love to learn and they love to do tricks, for Ritter especially if there are food treats involved. Hmm, what useful thing can I teach the to do with touch...I'll have to get back to you when I figure something out.