What to do when your small poodle thinks he is a German shepherd?
Harvey the black poodle bounded into our lives one year ago and he has been a most annoying (and reliable) dawn alarm clock ever since.
Luckily, the little critter is as cute as Baby Yoda.
But like clockwork, at 4am, Harvey scratches at the door where he sleeps in our son’s bedroom.
Our boy won a bet with us where the prize for him was having his own dog.
Landing heads on the 50-cent piece meant we would not be adding to our full house, but tails meant Harvey would join the circus of fun, feral family members.
Tails it was (thanks to our friend with a magic coin!).
What a wonderful flip of ‘fate’ that we landed the fur ball as our baby.
I adore him to no end.
But … this puppy knows no boundaries of sleep guidelines. He stays awake late into the witching hours if anyone in the house is showing signs of life.
Then, his door-scratching starts at 4am, when he wants to go for a walk to see his dog mates.
And stupid me usually obliges. I am rewarded in my sleepy state with a tiny dog doing multiple pirouettes of excitement. Every time.
Full 360-degree turns of flying fur.
People would pay to see his happy dance on Broadway. His enthusiasm is infectious.
Harvey was one of the very best things to happen to our family last year.
Our human family has taken to copying the pirouette when we are happy or excited.
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But in recent months, Harvey has started becoming a little bullfrog by barking at bikes and bigger dogs.
So, we did something that I am sure broke little Harvey’s heart and future swagger: we had him desexed.
Harvey had to spend three weeks with one of those buckets of shame on his head, all stuck together with half a roll of electrical tape.
He was quite the Houdini at getting it off his head and biting his crotch where the wound was. Not a good look for any male.
But now it is a new year and our goal is to educate our poodle that he is, in fact, a small dog and not to be a punk with his big pals in the park. Wish us luck.
And may 2023 hold many happy times for you – worthy of copying the Harvey pirouette.
Sami Muirhead is a radio announcer, blogger and commentator. For more from Sami, tune into Mix FM.
