I was wrong. When I came home from work last night Sydney was not at the foot of the bed. She was at the side of the bed. One false step from Helaine in the middle of the night and… well, you can draw your own conclusions.
Normally, Helaine is in a placid deep sleep mode at that time, but she woke up enough to turn and tell me, “Sydney snores.” That will be two of us!
Sydney was one with the doggie bed. She was in the curled up doggie fetal position. She was motionless. I knelt down to touch her, the way a new parent sometimes touches their sleeping child – just to make sure things are as good as they look.
Sydney hadn’t been hungry earlier in the evening. Why should she? At her current level of daily physical activity one good meal would be enough for a month.
I didn’t get to bed until 3:30 AM. Both Helaine and Sydney were placid. If Sydney was a snorer, she was waiting long enough for me to pass out before starting. I did hear a few weak sighs as she shifted ever so slightly on the mattress.
I woke up long after Helaine, Sydney and Steffie. By that time Sydney had already missed another meal. There was medication to take, which Helaine wrapped in a piece of cheese.
Cheese seems to be Sydney’s Waterloo, because she sprung into action as if launched from a cannon. When Steffie had a piece of cheese too, Sydney pursued her, hoping some mystically fell off.
At one point Steffie decided Sydney needed to go outside. Though our lawn is still snow covered, and Sydney’s stems are short, there is one clear spot over the septic tank!
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
Other than that, Sydney’s been guarding the TV, lying on her rectangular bed. I haven’t heard her bark, even when the postman rang the bell and left a package at the door. She is curiosity challenged.
In short, she is nearly perfect – low maintenance, unobtrusive, cheap to feed. It’s good to have her visiting. I hope she’ll tell her friends.