Maneuvering around our big dog

I don’t know about the rest of the dog lovers out there, but our very large puppy finds the most interrupting places in which to lay down in the house, usually blocking a doorway or hallway in doing so.

Curly is our puppy — well, he’s actually about 4 now so not so much a puppy, but he acts like one. Curly is part Border Collie and Queensland Healer.

Now, I’ve had people tell me those breeds are usually not large dogs, but Curly is an exception. Not only does he weight about 100 pounds, but when he is laying out on the carpet, he is 4-feet long and about 2 1/2 feet from toe to back. In other words, he covers a lot of space.

While Curly is primarily an outdoor dog, we let him in a lot and he loves to spread out to sleep. When we are moving around, he likes to lay in the way. At 4-feet long, he can completely cover an entry way, like he does when he lays at the entry into the kitchen. We constantly have to step over him, never even getting a flicker out of him as he sleeps right through it.

If we are not going into and out of the kitchen, he seems to lie down where we are going in and out, as if to ensure we know he is there, even though he is asleep.

As you can read, Curly makes us laugh — a lot. He is our “goofball” and is a lot of fun.

In the evening, once we have sat down, Curly will move off his blanket and will stretch out in front of the couch, which he pretty much covers. He will eventually stretch those long legs out and push back the coffee table, taking about as much space as he can. If you get up, you have to negotiate around him and his large body, including a long tail.

With it getting colder, we are trying to get him to sleep in the house and while that works early in the evening, he has yet to stay in the house all night. Our previous dog, Norton, could sleep all night and I’d be amazed how he would be in the exact same spot we left him when we went to bed. That dog knew a good thing when he had it and rarely would get up in the middle of the night and want out.

Not Curly. And, when he decides he wants to go outside, guess who he comes to so he can be let out. You guessed it, me. It is funny how he will quietly make his way down the hall and into our bedroom. I will know he is there because he either flops his ears, smacks his gums or if I don’t respond right away, he will place his paw on the bed near my face.

Did I mention Curly is mostly black and trying to follow him is a challenge in the middle of the night, especially when he stops for his treat.

And, his other little ritual is he just doesn’t want to go outside. He wants a treat. As we make our way — in the dark — down the hall and toward the back door, he will stop and sit about five feet from the door and wait until I get the small dog bone. Then he will go out and I get to go back to sleep.

Curly, like most pets, has a personality and it appears every dog’s personality reflects his owners. I have friends with dogs and they have their own stories and they are not exactly like mine, but they are every bit as enjoyable for them as Curly is for me and my family. From his laying in front of an entryway, to his snoring or running in his sleep, Curly always brings a smile. He has been pretty trouble free, but a couple of times he has put a scare into us with a health issue, but has always recovered, sometimes in the matter of a few minutes.

Now, if I could just get him to sleep all night, so I can sleep all night, I’d be really happy.