Being that I was awake for most of last night, I decided to search the Internet for web-sites about the Great Pyrenees breed. I sat here reading site after site, the best one written by a man who raises and sells Pyr puppies (as he calls them).
First and foremost, the Pyrs have been specifically bred for centuries to be guard dogs, especially during the hours of midnight and six o'clock in the morning when night-time predators will assault sheep and goats, or any other livestock one might have. Pyrs will sleep all day like a cat so they can patrol their property at night, all night, until the sun comes up. Then they're exhausted and will sleep all day long if you let them.
That roaring bark that Savannah has is typical for this breed... that's their major alarm to scare off predators and let their owners know that something has come close to attacking their livestock. And that one-bark bark that comes just about every hour during the night (and wakes me up each time)--- according to that web-site, that single bark is not telling me that Savannah has to go out... she is letting me know that she has looked into every corner of the kitchen and breakfast room and there isn't a soul in her territory who is a threat to anyone in her charge.
Give me a blessed break.
The site also said that trying to teach a Great Pyrenees to not bark or bark less is impossible. That nocturnal barking trait is in them, period, and if you can't live with that, then you cannot live with a Great Pyrenees. It's that simple. This is what we get for not doing the proper research on this particular breed. This is also what we get for falling head-over-heels with all of those Great Pyrenees dogs that march in our town's Christmas Parade every December. (The web-site also mentioned that hundreds of Pyrs are given up to rescue organizations every year because the people who fell in love with those fluffy puppies cannot tolerate their night-time behavior as they grow into adult dogs.)
Well. As of this morning, I have a different attitude. Which makes me think of the Mary Engelbreit drawing of a pouty/cranky little girl standing over the words 'Must. Change. Attitude.' Well, indeed I must, because lately I have been both pouty and cranky. (And exhausted.)
No matter how tired I am after not being able to sleep through most nights because of Savannah's barking, I cannot fault her for doing the job she was born to do, and doing it well. The site did suggest that praising the Pyrs for their night-time barks will comfort them and please them. After all, who doesn't like to be praised and thanked for a job well done?
I've considered the idea of bringing Savannah upstairs with me tonight, and keeping her on the leash so she won't go roaming into other rooms or down the stairs to the front rooms or up the stairs to the library. If I tie the leash to the foot of the bed, that would keep her in our bedroom but the long leash would let her walk around the room comfortably. However.... if my husband gets out of bed and trips on the leash.... or if Savannah decides that sleeping on the bed is preferable to sleeping by the side of the bed.... will I be able to move that 65-pound body of hers? Or will I be forced to hug the side of the mattress while Princess Puppy takes up most of the king-sized bed?
Not getting a good night's sleep for the past two nights has taken its toll on me today. Added to that, I had to bring one of our outside cats to the vet's office today. Gatsby has been suffering from feline vestibular disease and the medications were no longer having any effect on his 12-year-old body. Gatsby lived a quiet and dignified life, and I wanted him to have the same advantage at the end of his life, so we had him put down. It has been a bittersweet day, with Mickey looking for Gatsby all over the yard, and Sweet Pea standing by the kitchen door waiting for Gatsby to come up on the porch. I don't know if Savannah has realized that Gatsby is no longer here... she was too busy sleeping all day because she was up all night.
Every couple of hours, however, I made sure to wake Savannah up today... I put her leash on her and took her for walks... I turned on the vacuum and ran it over the carpets in the TV room and breakfast room even though they didn't really need it. Savannah got up when I wanted her to, but as soon as we got back in the house from walking, and as soon as I put the vacuum into the closet, there she was in her bed, sound asleep and snoring the day away.
Savannah needs her beauty sleep during the day so she can be on her best puppy-patrol behavior during the night. I think I should call the vet in the morning and ask him if there is a mild sedative that can be given to Savannah at night so she will sleep peacefully.
This is what my life has come to.... contemplating a sleeping pill for a nearly-one-year-old puppy whose sole aim in life is to protect my life.
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