October 14, 2002
DOWN HOME:
Give an old dog a new bedroom
___Betsy has been banned.
___For years, our little dog spent her nights in a wire kennel in our bedroom, just about two feet from my head on my side of the bed.
___We--Betsy, Joanna and I--arrived at this arrangement when Betsy was just a puppy. Jo and I didn't want her free to roam the house at night, so we bought the kennel. And in the home where we lived at the time, our bedroom seemed the most out-of-sight place to keep it.
___For years, all went well. Betsy likes to hang around with Jo and me, especially during the evening. She's a smart dog, and she instinctively knows when it's time for bed. So, we rarely have to call her to come to bed; she just hops right in, curls up and goes to sleep. And there she is, bright-eyed with wagging tail, the next morning.
___Unfortunately, the maladies of age began to catch up with her. First came the snoring. I didn't know dogs could snore. I only snore when I sleep flat on my back, and Betsy never sleeps flat on her back. But about three or four years ago, she started snoring. Mostly it sounds more like a soft purr. But every once in awhile, I'll have to reach over and rattle her cage to get her to move so she'll stop.
___Sadly, snoring isn't the worst of it. Somehow, she became a little like my maternal grandfather, Popo, who used to wake up early, early in the morning. But unlike Popo, who would sneak off to the kitchen and brew his coffee in silence, Betsy has gotten increasingly cranky and demanding about it all.
___This isn't so bad five days a week, when the alarm goes off at 5:15, and she and I can get up together. But on Saturday and Sunday, Betsy's internal doggie alarm has started going off, no matter what the alarm clock says.
___Most of the time, I've been getting up, letting Betsy out, feeding her and then snoozing on the couch while she eats breakfast. Not a huge problem, but a bit inconvenient. The couch is comfortable, and if I were too sleepy to go back to bed, Betsy would curl up beside me, and we'd sleep there until Jo woke up.
___But the other Sunday morning, I must've been especially tired, and Betsy had the audacity to complain about being caged until Jo woke up and let her out, but not without consequences.
___I've always known my wife has the brains of the outfit. She figured that if we move Betsy into the laundry room, we'll both--the adult humans of the family--sleep better at night.
___You know what? She's right. And as far as I can tell, Betsy's no worse for the move.
___Betsy's nocturnal non-compliance reminds me of "little" sins and bad habits. They start off small and seemingly harmless, but they build until they are disruptive and (in a scale much greater than a strong-willed dog) harmful. Fortunately, grace can redeem us and separate us from our sin, so we can rest easy with God.
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