A nice, albeit early, start

Nope. I don't do Black Friday. It was not sales that got me up at 4am. It was not pre-Christmas excitement or decorating. It was the normal type day. I wanted badly to sleep, as I had consumed enough turkey to have me in a Tryptophan haze for days. (It was good, what can I say?) It was a sound rarely heard from this particular source...Miss Kate.

Kate is a happy dog, in general, but very obsessive. When she plays, she plays hard. Usually it is with balls. She FRAPS, but that is generally short lived and is followed by her thoroughly cleaning the other two dogs; every inch of them. She sometimes will start to lick me, but it is weird and very rhythmic, and gets creepy and I stop it. This morning was a rather unique sound from her, especially first thing in the morning.

Kate sleeps on my pillows. She and Nugget trade off on that spot. He was at my feet and she at my head. I reached up and gave her a pat, as I do frequently through the night, to whomever has that spot. She returned my pat with a quick nose touch and then I heard it. A very loud thumping coming from above my head. For most of you dog folks this is no big deal, and likely a bit irritating at 4am. To me it was a shocking sound that was music to my ears. She was wagging her tail against the head board of the bed. It is not that she doesn't wag her tail. But her tail wags are usually very gentle sways as she is walking or running. She smiles a lot, but no tail wags as she lays around. This is huge!! I gave her a pat and quick ruffle of the fur on her neck. The thumping began again and this time with greater intensity. No nudges, no licks, no obsessing. Just plain happy dog tail wags.

I have had this dog for half of her life now...18 months (she is just over 3 years)...OK give or take a couple. She is still a work in progress. People on one of the Corgi forums were comparing the two breeds of Corgis and someone mentioned that the Cardigan Corgi REALLY needs human contact; a lot more than the Pemmie. It is difficult not to try to put human emotions on my dogs, and I do know that they process things differently than a human does, but Kate is just beginning to blossom from all of the work that I have done. She was a crate dog, and had never left the property she was born on. I put her in a car and drove for nine hours. I sleep with her on my bed. I take her to parks and subject her to lots of people of all sizes. The smells are not smells she had ever experienced. I live a block from the salt water and the sand. She has taken it all in stride, no matter how confusing and overwhelming it may have been. She is still not reliably house broken. I have become good at making sure she goes out, but she has yet to ask to go out. Since getting Nugg-pup I have come to find out how truly easy this breed should be. It makes me think about the price I have paid for Kate both monetarily and figuratively. From there, of course, I go to that awful place of wondering how to deal with this long term and the whys and what ifs. She is healthy physically and has wonderful bloodlines. Her heart is bigger than big. It has wound itself around mine and the thought of not having her hurts my heart. Realistically, it is the thought of her still living in a crate that breaks my heart. There is still a lot of baggage to work on, at this point.

Just when I think that it is time to think about Prozac (for her, not me!), I get a nice gentle tail thump on my head board. You have no idea how huge this really is!!!

Thanks, Kate.

I think I will head to bed and a nap before the cleaning begins. If you want to join me, and sleep on my pillow, you are much more than welcome.

G2