The Labrador Effect

No one in our house is getting much sleep these days. Who would've thought one yellow, lab-mix canine could so upset the delicate balance of our sleep patterns. Maggie has quite suddenly decided that she VERY MUCH wants to sleep in Sydney's room. I can't for the life of me figure out why sneaking up (and shedding) on the couch isn't good enough for her anymore. I really don't mind if Maggie sleeps in Sydney's room. She just seems to want to curl up next to the bed on a nest of dress-up clothes. The thing is that Sydney VERY MUCH does NOT want Maggie in her room. So here's what happens: Maggie opens Syd's door and starts to circle and make herself at home - which wakes Sydney up. Sydney hops out of bed and comes and gets in bed with me and Mark. She will stay until either I feel claustrophobic or she kicks Mark in the ribs - whichever comes first. One of us will then escort her back to her bed. When it is my shift, I lie in bed with her until I think she's fallen back asleep. Then I attempt to sneak out. I say "attempt" because it often takes more than one try. I will swear that she's out, but nine times out of ten she will catch me as soon as I stand up. When I finally make it back to bed, I lie there anticipating the next cycle of this middle of the night "musical beds" game that we play. I'm usually irritated by it all. I take my sleep very seriously. However, a couple of nights ago I laughed to myself as I lay there thinking about my very polite, timid dog, who wouldn't ever MEAN to put anybody out. As I drifted off to sleep the thought running through my head went something like this: if a yellow dog wags her tail in Tennessee.......does she trigger a hurricane somewhere on the other side of the world? Or maybe it's wide-spread bouts of sleeplessness that she triggers!