Tye's Midnight Blues

Tye, the beloved pooch always camps with us and he loves it.  He knows when we start packing and is always very antsy until he gets the invitation to "kennel up" in the car, at which time he hauls butt from the front door and doesn't slow down until he's safely settled in his car seat.  Meaning his seat in the car for all you warped folks that think I may have carried this "babying him" thing a little too far. 

At Family Camp a few weeks ago he was a little whiney - lots of people and out of his element.  But at Camperworld he's a peach.  He stays in the camper when we go to the pool, but mostly lies in his basket in front of the camper waiting for the 3 or 4 times a day that we make the rounds through the campground.  He loves to watch the people go by and especially loves to watch the other pups prancing by, barking and whining a little at each.

So tired.

Oh, who's that?!

At night, he's had various accommodations.  He started off sleeping in the car/burb, but eventually was invited into the camper to sleep in the kitchen under the table.  This summer, however, Kev decided that he could no longer handle being woken by Tye shifting and turning at night and has once again banned him to the burb.  I felt sad about this at first, but Kevin assured me that "Tye loves it.  He thinks it's his own private camper."  I rolled my eyes at this until the first night I put him to bed.  Tye did indeed seem to be excited about hopping up into the burb and would immediately cozy up on his blanket and fall asleep.  And he's such a good boy.  He never barks or makes a peep until we get him out in the morning, even if it's well after the sun has come up.

This trip however, it's cooled off considerably here in the mountains.  The days are still 80, but the nights probably drop into the 40s.  The first morning we brought him in, the girls swore he was shivering from cold, which stressed me out of course.  The 2nd night Kev stayed in town, so I kept him in the camper.  Then last night Kev said he was getting up at 4am anyway to hunt, so Tye might as well stay inside.  That was all Kevin.  I didn't ask that Tye stay inside.  It was Kev's idea.

So, you can understand my confusion when Kevin wakes me up at 3:30am and is livid, seemly at me.  "Your dog better stop whining.  He's out there whining so much that he woke me up.  And he's cost me 25% of my sleep tonight!"  25% of his sleep?  How did he figure that out?  Well, we didn't go to sleep until midnight and apparently Kev was getting up at 4:30 instead of 4:00 and so Tye woke him up an hour early, which is indeed about 25% of his 4-1/2 hour slumber. 

So, whatever.  I'm just trying to figure out why Tye would be whining.  I didn't hear him, but waited and listened, and indeed after a minute he started up again.  "Well," I said, "he doesn't ever do that in the middle of the night, so he must have a problem."  So, I got up, got dressed, put shoes on.  As soon as I opened our bedroom door, Tye hopped up and started dancing and prancing toward the front door like he'd just been offered a weekend pheasant hunting trip and a steak dinner.   So, out we go into the cold of the night and sure enough, as soon as we hit the grass Tye revealed his problem.  And believe me, I could hear it and smell it way before I could see it.  Diarrhea.  Really?  So gross.  So, we wandered around for a few minutes, depositing gifts here and there.  Eventually he seemed ready to go back in, so we headed back.  He curled up in bed and was probably asleep within 30 seconds.  I on the other hand, had to go back and face Kev.

He was still in bed muttering and cursing Tye's name.  Like it was really his fault.  I actually was thinking that Tye was pretty amazing.  A lot of other mutts would have just done their business all over the floor and then Kev would have discovered at 4:30 when he stepped foot out of the bedroom.  Obviously, he's the best dog ever for being able to squeeze his little butt cheeks together and hold it until he could rouse us and get one of us to let him out.  But, I suppose that when you've just lost 25% of your night's sleep, you're not thinking clearly and rationally like that. 

So, Kev did get up a short time later and trudged out into the cold and dark to hunt meat for the family.  And I stayed cozy and warm in bed until 7am, when I was roused again by a whining Tye.  I confess that I am a little concerned about tonight.  He doesn't seem to be completely recovered.  I may just have to sleep in the kitchen under the table with him to head off any whining that may rouse the hunter.

Update:  Tye once again slept in the kitchen, alone without me, and made it through the night just fine.  Whew!  All might be well once again.