Gromit and Chewie Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Here is a summary of the sleeping quarter transition for Gromit and Chewie - puppy to adult dogs
When there was only Gromit at our house and no Chewie, Gromit slept on my lap. He would put his head on my shoulder and sleep really hard. I don't know many things as sweet as a puppy on your shoulder, it is really second only to a baby that has fallen asleep in your arms.
At night, he went in his crate. Gromit has an incredible shrieking noise that he is capable of when he deems a situation to have some urgency. Any minute in a crate pretty much was a situation of urgency and called for shrieking. Neither Gromit or K nor I slept those first two nights - the first night he didn't sleep at all and we had an aunt and uncle staying with us who were visiting from AZ. They recently said they don't remember the whole thing - but suffice it to say they have been back in the cities many times and never again asked to stay at our house...hehe... by the third night we got him calm enough to fall asleep - or maybe we got him so much exercise that day he dropped when we put him in the crate.
During the day we crate trained him because that is what we thought we were supposed to do - we read books and listened to our trainers, and one day we thought we had it down and we went out for dinner - Gromit had probably lived with us for two weeks. We got in the car and were maybe three or four blocks away from the house when our phone rang and it was our security company telling us the house alarm was going off - we asked which one - it was the glass break detector in the living area - guess where Gromit's crate is located?? He shrieked long enough and high enough that the glass detector alarm got set...
Chewie - came about 4 months later and like any second child, many of the rules Gromit had to live under were modified and eased a bit. He slept in his crate at night but he did not take to crate training during the day and we let t go. At 2.5 years I had to start his crate training in order to work him in agility.
Chewie and Gromit used to share the air conditioning vent to sleep on as puppies. We have picture of them nose to nose on it - they spooned each other on the couch and slept in crates side by side in our bedroom. Chewie never ever like going into his crate but he did it partly because we put treats in there and partly because Gromit did.
As they grew Chewie would often sleep next to us on the floor - he dreams a lot in his sleep. He runs and twitches and whines and and grr's and grimaces and sometimes barks in his sleep.
Then there is the couch - we have a couch in the living area where the picture window is located, I like to say it is their own personal big screen tv - it is big enough for two dogs. One sits on either side of the couch and they hang their heads over the arm on their respective side. Sometimes Gromit sits with his paw leaning diagonally up in the air and his head is laying over that leg. It looks like he is waving. Then there is the pose where he sits forward with his feet crossed in front of him on the coffee table. Every once in a while they actually sleep head to butt - so one dog has his head on the other one's back - very sweet. But my very favorite pose is when they lay in a half moon, belly up, paws in the air, jowls hanging down so you can their gums and teeth...
When Chewie is on the couch and can't wake up enough he will get off the couch in stages, one stage is head from arm to coffee table, then front feet on the ground, back feet and butt still on the couch. Fnally he will stretch and lean off the couch and then fall on the floor.
This year, Chewie has taken to sleeping on the bed with us at night. As soon as I get up in the morning, he moves up and snuggles in with K - making it ever difficult to get out of bed. He sleeps down at the foot of the bed through the night, head on my feet, curled so that his head touches his tail.
No matter where they are in their sleep cycle, Gromit is able to instantly raise a head and bark at the sound of any slight noise or perhaps smell - like a piece of bacon being dropped into a frying pan, or a knock on the back door - try as might to let those sleeping dogs lie, whenever I arrive home they are always there to greet me, tails swinging, heavy panting and big smiles for me....
When there was only Gromit at our house and no Chewie, Gromit slept on my lap. He would put his head on my shoulder and sleep really hard. I don't know many things as sweet as a puppy on your shoulder, it is really second only to a baby that has fallen asleep in your arms.
At night, he went in his crate. Gromit has an incredible shrieking noise that he is capable of when he deems a situation to have some urgency. Any minute in a crate pretty much was a situation of urgency and called for shrieking. Neither Gromit or K nor I slept those first two nights - the first night he didn't sleep at all and we had an aunt and uncle staying with us who were visiting from AZ. They recently said they don't remember the whole thing - but suffice it to say they have been back in the cities many times and never again asked to stay at our house...hehe... by the third night we got him calm enough to fall asleep - or maybe we got him so much exercise that day he dropped when we put him in the crate.
During the day we crate trained him because that is what we thought we were supposed to do - we read books and listened to our trainers, and one day we thought we had it down and we went out for dinner - Gromit had probably lived with us for two weeks. We got in the car and were maybe three or four blocks away from the house when our phone rang and it was our security company telling us the house alarm was going off - we asked which one - it was the glass break detector in the living area - guess where Gromit's crate is located?? He shrieked long enough and high enough that the glass detector alarm got set...
Chewie - came about 4 months later and like any second child, many of the rules Gromit had to live under were modified and eased a bit. He slept in his crate at night but he did not take to crate training during the day and we let t go. At 2.5 years I had to start his crate training in order to work him in agility.
Chewie and Gromit used to share the air conditioning vent to sleep on as puppies. We have picture of them nose to nose on it - they spooned each other on the couch and slept in crates side by side in our bedroom. Chewie never ever like going into his crate but he did it partly because we put treats in there and partly because Gromit did.
As they grew Chewie would often sleep next to us on the floor - he dreams a lot in his sleep. He runs and twitches and whines and and grr's and grimaces and sometimes barks in his sleep.
Then there is the couch - we have a couch in the living area where the picture window is located, I like to say it is their own personal big screen tv - it is big enough for two dogs. One sits on either side of the couch and they hang their heads over the arm on their respective side. Sometimes Gromit sits with his paw leaning diagonally up in the air and his head is laying over that leg. It looks like he is waving. Then there is the pose where he sits forward with his feet crossed in front of him on the coffee table. Every once in a while they actually sleep head to butt - so one dog has his head on the other one's back - very sweet. But my very favorite pose is when they lay in a half moon, belly up, paws in the air, jowls hanging down so you can their gums and teeth...
When Chewie is on the couch and can't wake up enough he will get off the couch in stages, one stage is head from arm to coffee table, then front feet on the ground, back feet and butt still on the couch. Fnally he will stretch and lean off the couch and then fall on the floor.
This year, Chewie has taken to sleeping on the bed with us at night. As soon as I get up in the morning, he moves up and snuggles in with K - making it ever difficult to get out of bed. He sleeps down at the foot of the bed through the night, head on my feet, curled so that his head touches his tail.
No matter where they are in their sleep cycle, Gromit is able to instantly raise a head and bark at the sound of any slight noise or perhaps smell - like a piece of bacon being dropped into a frying pan, or a knock on the back door - try as might to let those sleeping dogs lie, whenever I arrive home they are always there to greet me, tails swinging, heavy panting and big smiles for me....
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