Freckles woke up at 4 AM.

At least, that’s when I first heard her running up and down the hall.

Then she’d jump on the bed and sigh. Then she’d shake her head and make her tags jangle. I put her drops in her ears. I keep dog ear drops on the nightstand for just this situation. It didn’t help.

Run up and down the hall, jump on the bed, sigh, shake, cuddle, more sighs, move to a different part of the bed, shake, sigh, repeat over and over.

I got up to see if she wanted to go out. For the last month with Under the Bed Dog, every time Freckles goes to the door to go out, UTBD runs to a far room and hides. You have to get her leash and beg her to hold still long enough to attach it to her, and lead her to the door. At 4:20 AM? She’s right there ready to head outside with Freckles. So, I’m getting a robe on because it is way too hopeful to think she’ll come back with Freckles.

4:25 – I’m back in the house rummaging for a flashlight because I can’t see that $&@|~< dog in the dark. 4:30 - Get her back inside. Freckles is still agitated. She has a pre-breakfast snack. Twice. Finally, at 5:10 she lays down. Guess whose alarm goes off at 5:30 for CrossFit? Guess who decided while out chasing a dog before dawn that she had already had enough activity this morning? The husband emerges from his uninterrupted sleep. I mutter that the dogs have already been out. He looks at Under the Bed Dog and says, "You must have been such a good girl to come in so easily for the mommy!" I might have snapped a bit while telling him that I was chasing her around at 4:25. I fell asleep after he left. Freckles walked me to the door when I left for work. It was nice of her to interrupt all the snoring she'd been doing since 5:10.