For a good time, watch your dog sleep.
But seriously, like most dogs, your dog is particularly delectable when conked out, adrift in doggy dreams.
Maybe your dog’s paws paddle the air, an obvious indication that he has spotted an ethereal chipmunk and is about to have – unlike in real life – a successful capture.
Or your dog’s cheeks fill with air as she boofs and huffs and snorts her convictions in more subdued versions of her normal daytime ear-shattering yowls.
Maybe his nose twitches, his eyes roll crazily under their lids, even his tail thumps as he dreams of unlimited soup bones and Pupperoni, or the Friday night sausage pizza.
If your dog is so deeply invested in the sleep stock market, remind your friends and family members – and yourself – to leave him alone.
Kids, and adults, who startle a thoroughly crashed-out dog might get snapped at, or worse.
This may not be a training issue. Dogs that are sensitive to sound or touch, older dogs, dogs in pain, dogs with hearing impairments, and dogs on medications might have an amplified reaction to a disturbance.
To avoid inadvertent jostling of your sleeping dog, designate a Spot or Place – out of the family’s traffic pattern – for your dog’s naps.
Please don’t send your dog there as if it were a leper colony. When she is tired out from her daily stroll, walk over to her Place, call her to you, and praise her wise choice. Offer a treat or favorite toy there to keep her company.
Once she is comfortable, leave her to her well-earned – and undisturbed – slumbers.
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