Those are magic words in our house. At the sound of those words (99% of the time anyway!) two dogs jump up from their bed or sofa of choice and make their way to the back door.
Those words kick off the start of the bedtime routine. It took us some time to put together the bed time routine and we very rarely deviate from this (really terrible rain and wind and fireworks don’t count) – deviation from the routine often results in attempts from Sam to head upstairs or back to a living room bed or for Bea to bark at you from in front of the fridge.
These are dogs that are used to having their lives structured by a routine. Some dogs may not be bothered whether there is a regular routine or not, some dogs get very upset when their regular routine is disturbed – Sam dislikes weekends and I think lost weight over the Christmas holiday because his upstairs Sam bed sleep routine was disturbed. Bea is less bothered by the routine but understands what is expected of her and gets chicken as a reward, Sam has to have the routine in place. So with a lot of trial and error we found a routine that seems to work for us and we are sticking with it.
So it’s time for doggy podcast. It’s not actually called that, it’s a spotify podcast called “My Dogs Favourite Podcast” and has a mix of softly narrated stories such as the story of Rin Tin Tin and some jokes (Why is Hans Christian Andersen like a dog? Because he’s a Great Dane..) and some soothing background music. The first couple of nights were difficult for settling and background noise was suggested. Apparently the dogs are not fans of Planet Rock overnight, or in fact anything that may have a startling or unexpected noise. So we found the doggy podcast and we’ve had no complaints (yet!). To be fair to Jessica Raine it’s very soothing and I could probably fall asleep listening to it – the number of nights in the last 6 months that I nearly have… I rate how well the day has gone by how far into the podcast I listen before I get to go to bed. If I get beyond Rin Tin Tin it is not a good night!
Once this has been announced, everyone jumps up and heads to the back door to go into the garden. Toast has generally been consumed about an hour before so a garden trip is recommended! Bea is just the goodest of girls – whatever the weather or noise, she looks up at me if I open the door and trots out and up the greyhound race track that used to be a lawn with no hesitation or encouragement needed. My heart melts when she heads out in the pouring rain and I make sure I have a towel waiting when she comes in. Sam may or may not do this – sometimes the garden has scary shadows that need me to walk with Sam into the garden and stand there while he tours the garden several times to find just the right spot… this is normally on cold and damp nights. Almost like if I am going out so are you!
There are 3 small chicken rewards awaiting the dogs. It has to be 3. Any less and I am glared at from the front of the fridge by 2 dogs that will not move; any more and I am hand feeding them in their beds as they will have gone to bed after 3… I’m not sure how it ended up as 3 – I think I got played as it was 2 – one for coming back in from the garden (because that was a drama that requires a whole other blog) and one for going to bed. I don’t know what the third is for – being the goodest boy and girl maybe?! We can all agree on that!
While they are in the garden, if I have not been obliged to stand there like a lemon, I might remake their beds and put Cleo, Sid and Nancy back in their places. In winter I might adjust their radiator and check the thermometer, in summer maybe the fan goes on. It’s like it’s own little dog climate in those rooms, designed to keep them comfortable. Too cold and Bea cries loudly – not sure about too warm yet because Wales isn’t exactly tropical!
They have access to the kitchen – dining room overnight. Tiled floor for any accidents (luckily I can count those on one hand in the last 6 months), access to water and comfortable beds, space to roam but no access to the stairs or sofas. I have no issue if they wanted to sleep on sofas overnight – the current sticking point is stairs. Sam, if given free roaming of the house, will go upstairs and sleep on his Sam bed. Bea cannot do these stairs – and does not like being on her own at all (if Joe and I have had to both go out and Sam goes upstairs, she stands at the bottom and cries and barks until he comes back down) – so we get barking at random times overnight if Sam has gone. The best solution for everyone currently is limited access to rooms together. And to be fair, they both seem very content with that.
After chicken treats, I walk to the other side of the table. This is the signal that I am going to bed. At this, they both go to their beds. Bea will floomp down into whatever bed she fancies immediately and closes her eyes, Sam may have to turn a few circles but settles quickly too these days. We had months of him pacing the rooms, for 20 mins or more before settling (not unexpected for Sam at that point) or refusing to come in at all from the garden.
I will whisper a goodnight and turn off the main light and close the door behind me. The Nest camera kicks in at this point – I always take a look and watch them sleep, checking if they remain settled or if I need to go back in and help them (Sam) settle. I love to do that (yes I am aware it makes me sound a bit creepy) – I love watching them feel warm and safe, stretching out on their beds and sleeping without a care in the world.
Now if we can just do that past 5am….?