Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Territorial Conflicts

Polly and I have been having a battle for about 4 or 5 years now.  I'm not sure which of us is winning.
When we moved my other to Atria, she had two braided rugs that her niece had made for her.  She was using them in her bedroom, but because of the trip-and-fall risk, Atria does not allow throw rugs.  Makes sense.  So I brought them here.

I used one on my recliner.  Since the dogs frequently sleep there, I figured it would help keep the upholstery clean.  And it looked nice, too.


Polly is the one who sleeps most in my chair and she can't stand to sleep anywhere that she can't make a bed, so if she is sleeping there, and I go tell her to get down because it's my turn to sit down, this is what the chair looks like.  Always.


I have tried to put a blanket in the chair for her to make a bed out of, but she digs under them to get to the rug.

She lies there all day long just staring at the chair and if I get up...for anything...she's out of her dog bed and headed for the recliner  Lately she has taken to standing at the chair looking at it and at me, trying to figure out if I'm going to be gone long enough for her to make a bed in the rug.

The other day she was sound asleep in the other recliner when I went to the bathroom, and when I got back from the bathroom, she was curled up in the bed she had made in my chair again.


Notice the look of guilt on her face.  Grrr.

Polly has a very firm sense of schedule.  I'm surprised that lately she has been letting me sleep in the morning.  If she does not know I'm awake, she will be quiet for an hour or more. I usually get the iPad and check my e-mail, but if I make the mistake of closing it, which closes with a teeny tiny click sound which she can hear even if she is asleep in the living room.  As soon as she hears the click, she is running down the hall to my chair and barking because it's time to eat NOW.  Walt never has to wonder if I'm awake.  All he has to do is wait for Polly to bark.

Yesterday I faked her out and figured out how to check my mail on the tablet, which has no cover and which makes no noise when I shut it down.  That was a triumph until she figured it out and if I v-e-r-y quietly put the tablet on the shelf where I keep it, she was back at the chair barking.  (Tomorrow, I will just leave the tablet in my lap and not try to put it away.  See if she can figure THAT out!)

So I eventually get up and feed and water the dogs, and leave the back door open for them.  About 2 hours later she's in here in my office looking at me expectantly.  I have yet to figure out why.  But I dutifully get up to make sure that she has water and that the back door is open.  When I've done that, she'll go back to the recliner, make her bed and sleep again.

At 4 pm. she tries to tell me it's time to eat.  From then until I finally feed them (I try to hold out until 6), whenever I walk anywhere she is leaping happily in the air thinking that the only reason I ever get up at all during the day is to give her something to eat.

Polly is one reason why I won't be taking foster dogs any more.  We have such a hard and fast schedule (written by Polly) that it would be disruptive to everyone to introduce a new dog into the mix!)

(As for Lizzie, she just lies on the couch and ignores us until it's mealtime and then she joins Polly in the happy dance of dinner.)

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