Sleepless nights

My humans have not been sleeping well for the past 1.5 weeks. They keep waking up in the wee hours in the morning. It is no surprise that they wake up blearied-eye on the morning...Why, you ask? New baby? No electricity? Creaking bed? Nope, nope and nope to all of the above. If you haven't guessed by now, let me give you a hint. The reason starts with a "K" and ends with an "S". Yes, it's me, Kess, their lil' fur kid who have been waking them up.

I have to keep you in suspense a little longer as I need to give you some background first. If you've read my earlier posts, you'll know my humans are avid travellers. You'll also know that they lived in Bangkok for 18 months. When they're away, I usually stay with their mums and dads. In their households, sadly, doggies are not allowed into the house. But, I can respect that. I am blessed that they are willing to dog-sit me and I don't have to go to a boarding place. I still have the run of their gardens.

Since I'm not allowed into their houses, mum & dad have decided that when at home, I have to sleep outside so that I get used to it. It's not that I don't have a comfortable bed outside, I do.

But, if you recall, it was raining regularly a while back. And when it rains, I get to sleep inside at home. Well, I kinda got used to it. So, when the sunny days came back, I still wanted to sleep inside. But my humans, mindful of their travelling days, decided that I should sleep outside. So, when it's bed-time, they'll say "Time to go to bed, Kess." I'll reluctantly go out and get into bed. I get my usual pats and rubs and then they close the door. A couple of hours later, I decide to knock on the door to ask them to let me in. And because I was concerned they may be in dream-land and not hear my knocks, I knock VERY LOUDLY (even our neighbours can hear!).

For the first 3 days, they let me in. The first time, dad was just too groggy. The second night, mum let me in coz the wind was blowing strongly. The third night, it did rain (OK, it was just a little rain). But, it continued night after night. They soon wised up. So, the last few nights, all I got was a scolding each time. I tried at least twice a night (once around midnight, and another one at 2am). And, to avoid waking the neighbours, my humans put a little dog fence at the door so I can't get to the wooden door. I can only scratch at the grill. Anyway, last night I gave up.

The moral of the story? Humans, let your doggies in at night...hah! hah!

Post script from Kess' mama: Actually, it's this. If you reward bad behaviour, i.e "Knock on door= Can go in", you'll continue to encourage this behaviour. Yes, you may have to persevere for a while as your doggie and you learn the lesson together, but in the end, you get your fur kid to behave in the way you want her to. Having said that, I am mindful that every household have different rules for their fur kids and some fur kids sleep in and some sleep with their humans. What matters is the principle of training which can be applied to other behaviours.