Not Sleeping Through the Night

Tai usually sleeps very well through the night, although his snores are loud enough to wake the dead, but at least he seems to sleep well. Recently he has started getting up in the middle of the night... to play. He will wake us by licking an arm, a leg, a face, whatever is exposed. And if we don't respond quickly or decisively enough, he starts pawing at said arm, leg, or face. Silly me, at first I thought he wanted to go out for a pee, but when we got out of the bedroom, he scampered for his toys and threw them around with wild abandon, hoping I'd join the fun. I didn't. I couldn't. I was still half asleep, so I led him straight back to bed. Within a minute, he was in the land of slumber again... albeit a very snoring slumber. We've been going through this almost every night lately. It's hard to ignore someone licking your face!!

The Return of Summer

Summertime temperatures have returned to this part of Southeast Asia. We're talking highs of 35 to 37C (95 - 99F). Very normal for this time of year. And that means a return of Tai's hot-weather sleeping pose. Gone is the curled-up-in-a-ball-to-keep-warm pose of winter, and back is the rather undignified lie-on-his-back paws-in-the-air pose of hot, steamy summers. Keeping the chest cool keeps the entire body cool, so the experts say. Tai seems to agree.

Fashion Dude

At this time of year, when most regions of the northern hemisphere are still in the cold clutches of winter--and here in Thailand is no exception, though "cold" is a relative term--we seek to keep our little BTs warm and cosy by outfitting them in all manner of jackets and coats and pajamas and boots and hats and what-have-you.

Personally, I'm not a fan of doggies dressed to the 9's. And I'm not the one who went out and bought Tai's wardrobe (let's be clear about that!!) ;-) But I'm the first to agree that if it keeps him (or her) warm 'n toasty, let's put it on. Tai is a warm weather doggie. (And we certainly get our share of "warm" weather here in tropical Southeast Asia!) He hates being cold, which includes being in air conditioning. He'd rather sit outside in the sweltering heat. But at this time of year, he seeks the sunshine. He sleeps at night in his favorite pajamas and will sometimes spend the whole day in some kind of jacket if the temperature is sufficiently cool. I came home from work the other day--a particularly cool day--to see him lying on the road in front of our restaurant. (Don't worry, he was perfectly all right.) It was just that the sun was no longer on our north-facing patio, and the nearest sunny spot was out on the road. So there he was, dressed in his red Santa jacket, curled up behind a parked car. What a goof! Naturally, I shooed him off the road. Hmm, I wonder if that's what they mean by "fashion that could stop traffic"???