"Do you need something?"

This morning, my perfectly-happy-to-be-submissive dog, Puppy, did something that severely shocked me.

Both of my dogs are Cavalier King Charles spaniels which are normally extremely quiet little creatures - unless they want something. Titus tends to bark when he wants out or when he just feels like being a little jerk and Puppy barks on extremely rare occasions - meaning, I don't even remember the last time she barked.

Except this morning, and I have to admit, I did walk straight into it.

The previous night, I had promised the old bat that I'd feed her come morning because I was giving her pig's feet and they were frozen as hard as rocks so I let them thaw a bit overnight. I'd set up tons of things to dry, also, for vacation so they'd have meat to snack on.

This morning, I jumped up at around six to take Titus out (even though he had half of the mistake in his crate when I went to pee, I think, since like I said, he'd been basically asleep before that), and left her in the room like I usually do. Then I came back, deposited my little crapper, and crawled back into bed.

Puppy has the tendency to be incredibly annoying when she wants something and this morning was no different. Being hungry and probably needing to urinate, she was getting into everything. I said her name more than on a few occasions in annoyance. And she would quietly comply and go about her business getting into something else just to keep me from sleeping.

This time, she sniffed at my nightstand which happens to have a turkey bone they've been playing over for the past week. I'd taken all the tiny pieces out of my carpet and placed them there so I wouldn't step on them. She sniffed and then, of course, I yelled "Puppy!" sharply to deter her from continuing.

Her body slowly sank back to the carpet and she sat there, looking at me (another Cavalier trait, which is so very annoying).

"Do you need something?" I said in annoyance. Usually this reply merits no real answer except more staring and possibly the act of pulling one's ears forward and a little wiggle of excitement.

Not this morning.

This morning, she barked. And fell silent. When I didn't get up, she did it again. Now, this isn't aggressive barking, per se. She is sitting in her little position, waiting patiently for me to get out of bed (again) and put my shoes on (again) and say "Let's go then," which is my morning routine.
Finally, I bolted upright like a zombie and turned towards her. She looked at me with almost pleading eyes, the whites showing, and then at once went into a lying position. Then she barked again. She was almost shaking.

My reply to her answer was "Is that so?" And I got up from my bed, put my shoes on, and said "Let's go, then." She was absolutely delighted. She jumped up and ran circles around my tiny little room before falling into place directly behind me before I opened the door.