One of our Labrador Retrievers, Bo, can be a perfect gentleman. He takes treats with the gentlest of touches. He sits and waits patiently for food, or a bone, or to petted. When he comes in from the outside he trots immediately to his dog bed until his paws dry off before he seeks out attention or playtime.
He is a listener. When I let him out and if I smell a skunk nearby, he will immediately come back into the house when I call him. If he gets off his leash, and I yell the command, he immediately lays down and waits for me to hook him back up,
The fur on his head is soft. He has the history of being a rescue lab--we pulled him from a kill shelter in Ohio several years ago.
When he naps, Bo snores like the oceanic crust grinding against the continental crust. Our floor trembles.
Bo is clumsy. The hair between the pads on his paws grows so fast and long that he often slips and tumbles on bumbles on hardwood floors. When he sits waiting for a treat, his paws slowly slide away from his body and you can see him straining to be so good and do what is being asked. The look in is eyes is I can't help what is happening please give me the cookie--fast! I'm going to fall!
So much about him is sweet and good and lovable.
But there is this one thing.
Not so lovable.
Bo can be known to bark me out of a sweet and heavy dream at blue o' clock in the morning. Like he did last night. I'm deep deep deep under the sand and slumber when all of a sudden:
wwwWOOF!
Loud enough to wake Julius Caesar...and Bo is at the other end of the house! He sleeps in the family room. My wife has yelled at him from bed. Each time it is like a full-broadside of 16-inch shells from the USS New Jersey thundering through the house: Bo, go to sleep!
Yet, Bo will do it again in a few minutes.
wwwWOOF!
Until I get up.
When I have, I've let him out in the yard. But he usually doesn't have to do anything. Often he will stand and stare at the door, come back in, lay down, and go back to sleep. If I don't get up he will bark once every fifteen minutes or so until I get up. Just one bark.
wwwWOOF!
from A Dictionary of Victorian Slang (1909)
Blue o' clock in the morning (Street): Pre-dawn, when black sky gives way to purple. Rhyming fancy, suggested by two o' clock in the morn. Suggestive of rollicking late hours.The bird catcher has often to be up at 'blue o'clock in the morning'. The rime is on the grass when he lays his nets. It is bitterly cold standing about in the fields. --D.N. 12th October 1886.
Love blue o'clock in the morning. Will have to start using it. If it's any consolation, my dog does this too.
ReplyDeleteLove blue o'clock in the morning. Will have to start using it. If it's any consolation, my dog does this too.
ReplyDeleteBrian - Your descriptions of Bo's bark are terrific. I especially like the line "full broadside of 16 inch shells from the USS New Jersey". I hope this doesn't happen every night?
ReplyDeleteI love the descriptions of Bo. All the plaudits, pointing to what a terrific companion he is. Until. The big bang lets out! The shells exploding from the New Jersey. A fantastic read!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet dog. I love how you wrote about his loud barking - I can hear it in my head, just that one single bark. Next time I'm woken up at 3:00 AM by my husband's snoring, I'll think of blue o'clock.
ReplyDeleteSo many rich descriptions of Bo. I could imagine this: "When he naps, Bo snores like the oceanic crust grinding against the continental crust. Our floor trembles." YIKES! And I thought my husband's snoring when he had a cold was loud. It was nothing like this!
ReplyDeleteRegardless of his barking, he sounds precious.
Gotta love it. My dog has trained us to know that the alarm means time to eat. When the alarm goes off Emery does one big dog stretch and comes up and lays on my head. Definitely time to get up. I'm trying to work on the word "snooze" with her or "ten more minutes." She is not picking up on those as quickly.
ReplyDeleteLook at that Bo! Adorable! I had never heard of the term "blue o'clock in the morning' before. I like it. wwwwWOOF! Wonder what he is thinking? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBo sounds like such a terrific dog! A huge sweetheart. OK, well with that one little habit excluded. I wonder why he does that? Is he hungry? Dreaming?
ReplyDelete