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Tag Archives: sleep

That moment

03 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by Katrin in Dogs

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Dogs, silly, sleep, visitors

*As of Feb 1, 2019 We’ve moved!* If you like this post please come on over to the new blog at https://www.maplewooddog.com/blog/  Where you can find all the archives you’ve read here plus new posts nearly every week! Hope you’ll join me over at the Maplewood Dog Blog. Thanks!

That moment when the last dog resisting an afternoon nap finally finds a comfy spot that meets his exacting standards and for the first time since 6:30am you now have 4 sound asleep pooches…

2 sleeping black labs on the floor amidst blankets and the ears of a sleeping corgi on the couch

And you realize, you have to pee.

How long do you think it will be before they all settle again?

Can’t you just behave?!

31 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Katrin in Dogs, Who Knows What Else

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

fibromyalgia, intelligence of the dog, relationship, sensory overload, sensory processing disorder, sleep, training humans, Zora

*As of Feb 1, 2019 We’ve moved!* If you like this post please come on over to the new blog at https://www.maplewooddog.com/blog/  Where you can find all the archives you’ve read here plus new posts nearly every week! Hope you’ll join me over at the Maplewood Dog Blog. Thanks!

After an exhausting day of agility yesterday, I fell asleep on the couch. Only to wake up, with a corgi snuggled against me, at 2:30am because the kitchen light had been left on. When I hit a certain part of my sleep wake cycle it takes very little to wake me up. Kitchen light on did it this morning.

As such I’ve been up. And zora is annoyed.

She wants to go back to sleeping nestled against me. I am not behaving she says!

I move too much. I shift. I read. I type. I research. I design and plan.

Zora communicates clearly her displeasure. And that she wants me to behave! Corgis need their sleep!

She sighs. She pokes her nose in my face. She shifts. She moves my hand and arm just where is most comfortable for her (which unfortunately is not so for me). She tries the other side of the couch. She groans. She settles in against me once more making sure I know just where she wants to be sleeping and that I need to cooperate!

Zora would like you all to know life is tough when your owner is an insomniac!

Zora sound asleep on a blue couch pillow

NADAC Championships 2017 – pre trial day 2

04 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by Katrin in Dog Agility

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

agility, fun, my husband is awesome, NADAC, NADAC Championships, relaxing, sensory processing disorder, sleep, Tom, travel, Zora

Today was the second and final day of the pre trial.  As I posted very early this morning my day started off a bit rocky.  But my husband is a dear and dropped Tom and I off at the trial sit at 5:30am.  He and Zora then returned to the hotel to sleep like people who can sleep well in hotels.

Because of his loveliness I was able to get a good 90min nap in my antigravity chair in the nice quiet crating area. 7am people were arriving with dogs so I woke up.  Then took a nice near hour walk around the property with Tom.  There is a great track that is I’m guessing based in time it took us to walk it and our usual pace near a 1/2 mile around.  So we walked that 4 times around.  The walk was great, I could feel my body connect to the earth again instead of the free floating feeling I’d been experiencing.  After our walk we returned to the crating area and Tom and I both go another nap in.

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Tom napping in our crating area after our walk

the rest of my morning was really chill.  I volunteered in a class to help.  I spent time just sitting in my chair.  I spent time sitting in my chair petting Tom.  Tom and I walked around some more.  I chatted with folks.  I got to play with a litter of mini Aussie mix puppies one of which, a really really nice pup is going home with a student of mine.  I’m so excited for them!  I had a good reconnect with my sensory system kind of a morning and early afternoon.  I think Tom enjoyed the 1 on 1 attention as well.

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around 2:30pm hubby and Zora arrived.  Just in time to run a round of jumpers.  I scratched us from the first round of jumpers and the mornings 2 rounds of hoopers. Zora was in crackerjacks, she’d basically been sleeping all morning in peace and quiet. It was a super fun non qualifying round.  We practiced our switch cues a lot that round.

Sometime between 3:30 and about 6pm we ran 2 rounds of chances and qualified in both. Our 2nd run was gorgeous, felt very in sync.  A great final round of the pre trial.

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Zora and I hanging out waiting to go into the ring to run

after feeding the dogs, we were able to pick up our check in bag!  Full of some neat stuff!  First the bag itself is nice, a convenient keep sake tote bag.  Inside of it was a print out listing all of the competitors and judges for the competition as well as the sponsors of it.  There was also the commemorative t shirt which I really liked the design and most importantly the feel of and am looking forward to actually wearing.  Also included was a dog toy, some coupon cards, a cup, another tote bag, a clicker and some other miscellaneous items donated by sponsors.  Usually at every champs nadac gives out a special leash to each competitor.  This year instead of the leash we each of a personalized mini jump bar that is really cool and nice.  It’s done in the same theme as this year’s champs which is something about outer space which I’m not sure why that theme but it is.  I’m glad they switched to these as the leashes were nice but I’m rather particular about leashes and never used the one I got at my last champs all those years ago.

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We also picked out our team New England regional group shirt today as well.  I think we are all supposed to wear those tomorrow.

Today they also set up both the worker raffle and the state raffle areas.  The state raffles are incredible. Competitors from each state or region in attendance come together to donate items for their states raffle basket.  Folks can then purchase tickets to try to win the raffle.  I made a nice dog bed out of some purple upholstery fabric I had to go in the New England raffle basket.

State raffle area with each raffle basket lined up on so many tables!
State raffle area with each raffle basket lined up on so many tables!
The worker raffle covering 2 tables
The worker raffle covering 2 tables

As we were getting ready to leave some folks we know invited us to join them for a pot luck by their rvs.  We didn’t have anything to contribute to the pot luck but they forgave us. Lol.  It was nice to be outside with some nice folks eating hamburgers and such. A great way to end today.

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Hubby and I at the pot luck dinner

Tomorrow begins bright and early with the general briefing at 7am followed by everyones walk throughs of the course.  We are dog number 49 to run tomorrow.  Wish us luck!

Where does he fit?

27 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by Katrin in Guide Dog

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Tags

airplane, Guide Dog, sleep, Tom

Every so often someone asks me “On an airplane, you have to buy Tom his own seat right?”

And they express skepticism when I shrug and respond, “No, he fits under the seat in front of me.  He sleeps the entire flight at my feet.”  They think I’m joking when I mention the cross country flights I’ve taken where the person sitting next to me expresses shock and surprise as we stand to disembark, “That dog was there the entire time?!  I had no idea!”  True story.  Has happened multiple times.

Because I guess unless you’ve experienced the Amazing Shrinking Tom, you wouldn’t believe it? Sure he’s a 63# lab cross, and yea he’s rather large I guess, but he curls up very small.

Well, for those disbelievers, this is where Tom chose to sleep this weekend.  On his own.  Simply because.

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Tom curled up in a small corgi sized dog bed sleeping soundly

 

And let me tell you that corgi sized dog bed he decided to curl himself into and snooze in for a couple of hours is definitely smaller than the area he gets at my feet on an airplane.

Hirgh Schnoosh

04 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Katrin in Dog Behavior, Dogs

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Tags

fun, sleep, walk, Zora

What the heck is that sound?

I softly chuckle.  Oh, it’s a zonked tired corgi snoring into the door.

Hirgh schnooosh.  Hirgh schnooosh.  Snort.  Hirgh schnooosh.

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Zora sleeping with her head pressed up against the door

I think it’s safe to say this morning’s walk was a success.  2 tired, happy dogs.  1 of which is snoring into a door.  Cute silly pup.

Nap Day

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Katrin in Dog Behavior, Dogs

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Tags

sleep, Tom, visitors, Zora

Wednesday is Nap Day.  The dogs all know this, even the visitors.  And the rare visitor that doesn’t realize Wednesday’s are Nap Day, well gets dirty looks from all the rest and figures it out.

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Ted giving me a dirty look for disturbing his beauty sleep to take a silly photo

Yup, things around here are pretty routine.  While the rest of our week can be pretty busy and active for the dogs, Wednesday’s are quiet time Nap Days.  Which by Wednesday every week, we all seem to need.  I mean, who doesn’t need a Nap Day by Wednesday?

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Zora, Tom, Ted and Dulce snoozing

Do you have a weekly routine? And does your dog know it well?

 

The Overtired Dog

24 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by Katrin in Dog Behavior, Dog Training

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

a well rested dog is a good dog, barking, barking and lunging, crate training, Dog Training, Dogs, nap time, reactivity, sensory overload, sleep, Tom, Zora

Some dogs (generally adults) are really good at self regulating and getting the sleep they

photo 1

Tom & Zora snoozing in the sun

really require to stay mentally fresh and with good stress tolerances and coping skills.  Others not so much.

This is a topic I frequently found myself discussing with puppy and adolescent dog owners, and sometimes with adult dogs who came to me for behavioral concerns.  In order to be mentally able to handle the stressful world at large, you dog needs to have enough down time and sleep.  Which for adult dogs on average is somewhere between 14-18 hours per day, and puppies closer to 18+ hours.  It’s one of the many reason I’m a big fan of dogs being comfortable in crates, not just puppies, but all dogs.  Since while dog beds are nice, in a crate your dog really learns to stop and rest since getting up to follow you isn’t really an option.

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A very relaxed Zora sleeping on her back

While there is some truth to the old adage, “a tired dog is a good dog,” it all has to be in balance.  As an over tired dog or puppy is less likely to well tolerate stress, excitement, environmental changes, arousal, and so much more.   And more likely to be socially inappropriate and reactive to their environment.  Just as a dog with excess energy and not enough exercise will display similar behaviors.  When I see a new puppy with owners concerned about the level of mouthy biting the puppy is doing to them, 98+% of the time the culprit is the puppy is over tired and needs more rest time.  Once the owner starts putting the puppy in a quiet space for scheduled naps multiple times per day, the mouthy bities start to decrease to more normal levels.  So my ideal new adage is, “Enough exercise + enough rest = a good dog.”

Tom is and seems to always have been really really good at self regulating for sleep.  Right now as I type he is in his usual position at my feet completely relaxed and sleeping.  If I were to get up, he might rouse slightly and watch where I am going but then likely fall back to sleep.  If I am out of the room long enough or open a door, then yes he’d get up and come check on what I am doing (and if it’s nothing much, then again he’ll pretty quickly go find the nearest comfy spot and snooze), for the most part he’s a very relaxed, chill old soul of a dog who is the epitome of ‘conservation of energy’.  When it’s truly go time then he’s all there and ready to roll, but until go time happens then he’ll probably be taking a nap.

TomMat2

Tom lying on a mat wondering why I woke him up to take a photo

Zora, on the other hand, often needs a bit more help.  While she has overall in her young life been better at self regulating than many adolescent dogs that have come through my doors with their owners, a large reason she is good as good at it as she is, is such behaviors get a lot of support from the humans in the house.  I keep a fairly accurate running tally in my head of activity levels and how much our life as been go-go-go.  As after about 3 days, she starts to get into her super intense so wound she can’t even blink mode.  Which many would say ‘oh she needs more exercise!  She’s got so much energy!’ but really what she desperately needs is some quiet down time and a really long nap.  She’s at that point, over tired, and more exercise will simply exacerbate the crazies that come out.  Which for Zora are generally expressed with lots of barking at every little thing in the environment.  Which drives me kind of nuts.  And I’m sure my neighborhood loves it too.  Right… And lots of really really intense inability to stop.  Even when asked to lie down she is still in high drive.

The past couple of days in our life have included a lot of out door time.  With me doing yard work or gardening.  Which for Tom means lots of naps on the porch or wherever I happen to be in the yard, but for Zora means lots of running around the back yard, following me, sniffing, chewing sticks, playing with her toys, searching out the chipmunks, watching the ducks, and generally lots of up, down, up, down and very little actual taking a good long nap.  And because our life also includes our nearly daily walk either in the woods, or on the street, or in the park, and we’ve had some friend and family over to visit meaning more excitement and activity, and we had the agility trial about a week ago, and it’s just plain spring meaning more going on in the world as a whole, Zora has reached the over tired stage.  I generally know I’m correct in this when I make the executive decision that despite that we are home and doing things (which she usually wants to be a part of and out of her crate for), she is going to spend a good chunk of time in her crate and she not only willingly goes there but then indeed zonks out for hours ignoring all sorts of household movements, noise and activity.  I am very much looking forward to her levels of sanity returning to more regulated normal levels when she finally wakes up (and the barking to decrease, oh yes I cannot wait for the barking to decrease once again.)

 

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