Today I want to tell you a story about my dog, Violet. She usually wakes us up around 5:30 a.m. to be fed. She does this by pacing back and forth, back and forth, by each side of the bed. Almost always, my husband is the first human to fall for her dog alarm. He usually lets her out back first so she can take care of dog business. Then he feeds her and returns to bed while she eats. One day last week, the dog changed up her routine. When she finished eating, she returned to the bedroom and resumed pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. My husband figured she had to visit the great outdoors yet again. So he got out of bed to let her out. The second he was out of bed, she jumped in bed and took his place.

That’s a smart and tricky dog! Naturally, I rewarded such good behavior with much snuggling.