How are you today? I’m none the worse for wear. In some ways I feel better than yesterday. In other ways, I’m worse. I should not have talked about Sheba’s past anxiety issues. It was begging for trouble. It came last night. It’s a good thing I went to bed early. I got a good first two hours of sleep. I don’t know if Sheba and I woke up simultaneously or if her whimpering woke me. I thought it must be close to 6 am but it was only a little after midnight. She sounded like she had to do ‘potty’ so I let her out. The only trouble was that sometimes it takes awhile to get her to come back in. She is a barker and I have troublesome neighbours.
I can entice her in with treats sometimes. Other times I have to scout her out in the dark. It is not easy. She is black. But I know where her favourite spot is – in the flowerbed by the sunroom. Sure enough, I found her there – a black blob curled up in the black dirt she had hollowed out. I should have left her there. She looked content. But you know how mothers worry about their fur babies. I roused and chased her back inside.
I really should have left her there because she fussed, whimpered and kept me up for hours. In the end I had to let her out again. She was anxious. Something was bothering her. If only she could talk and tell me what it was. She can’t. I had to figure it out as best as I can. I was not going to let her anxiety go on for weeks on end like the last time. We were both sleepless for that long together. I was determined that it was not going to happen again.
I was happy she found comfort in her flowerbed outside. It was probably very grounding nesting in the dirt. She was quiet out there and I finally got another couple hours of sleep. She barked to get in at 6 am. It was her breakfast time. She was back to her normal self again. In the morning light I could see that she had tracked in all the dirt from her hole in the ground. It’s no wonder. The ground is still wet from all the rain we’ve had.
I’m hoping for a more peaceful night. I could stand some sleep. My head is not working too well today. I’m probably babbling incoherently. Oh well….
onethousandandtwo 
Poor baby she needed to be out in the dirt. I have a high strung dog so I know what you are going through. I know what it feels like to want them to be able to tell us what is bothering them so we can convert them.
I enjoyed your article and can relate in so many ways. I too have difficulty sleeping and my fur baby sometimes just doesn’t understand when I do need sleep for she inevitably jumps off the bed and I know I need to get up immediately to let her out and sit and wait for her to decide she is ready to come back inside. But she always returns so do not have to go look for her. I am sure much of the time the outside baby is somewhat irritating her and she decides that is reason enough to return. Great Blog! Carol
Thank you, Carol.
Lily