Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra ‘news flashes’!

Wednesday July 13th 2016

It’s Monday night and I can’t believe how badly Isis is behaving. That little white and grey horror must have read my eulogy about coconut oil.

She growls and snarls her way through the evening so I take her outside for a pee,  dispatch her to bed in her Doggles and anoint her pesky little paw pads with coconut oil. All by ten o’clock. Then I close all the upstairs doors, excluding as much light as possible. I look forward to some peace downstairs.

No such luck. Every five minutes or so for over an hour she emits a loud growl followed by an irritated shriek.

Before the neighbours emigrate, I join the little toad upstairs. Ignoring her vociferous threats, I wrap her snugly in her Thundershirt, creep under the duvet, and try to breath as unobtrusively as possible. After a few minor grumps, she settles herself along my side and falls asleep. Praise the heavens.

Having buried my Hudl in a light blocking pillow bunker, I read for an hour or so. She seems more relaxed. Lucky her. At  1.30 a.m. I slide out of bed like a ghost and go downstairs to make toast and more coffee.

When I return, I note that Hairy One is nibbling a foot. Oh no. I cover her foot with my hand. She growls threateningly. I stroke her thigh very lightly. Soon, she settles back down again.

And that proves to be the pattern of the night. She sleeps for a short while. I listen to the World Service. She wakes up, is fretful and starts worrying her feet again. I stop her. She carries on. I stroke her. She dozes for a while. Then off she goes again. Perhaps her Doggles are irritating her. At some point I remove her Doggles. May be she’s not comfortable in her Thundershirt. I remove her Thundershirt. Nothing seems to help. Some time after 4.30 a.m. she finally succumbs and sleeps soundly. I gaze at the radio clock gloomily. Three and a half hours before it’s time to get up.

Sigh.

My current theory is that the light was bothering her. Despite my efforts, it’s impossible to make the room completely dark. Most summer days and evenings this year have been dull and grey and it has been almost dark  by dog’s bed time. On Monday, the sun finally broke through the clouds in the late afternoon. In the park, the shadows made Isis very nervous and jumpy. The sky had a luminosity which seemed to last well into the night.

Yesterday and today are dull and drizzly. We’ll see what the next few nights bring.

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk