Bedtime with Alvin

During the past three days I have wished that Alvin was on video so that I could share his antics and triumphs with all of you.  He really should have his own reality show.  For the past three nights he has slept entire night next to me.  The first night I put him up with me and gave him a rawhide to chew on in case he was nervous and after chewing for a couple of minutes he went to sleep.  I was laying on my side reading and he chose to lay in the outline of my body and went sound to sleep.  He likes to sleep with his head in my hand and when my hand was near his head he would plop his chin in my hand and go to sleep.  I finally lifted him off the bed early in the morning because I began to worry if he would be able to get himself down to go to the bathroom.  The next night I put him back up and he spent about two hours chewing on his rawhide.  It is difficult to move because he pops up like a Jack-in-the-Box every time.  He finally settled down and once again he chose to sleep in the groove of my body.  I woke up several times to soft doggy breath on my face and there he was, sound asleep, often with his head in my hand.  While he was asleep I was able to scratch and pet him all over his body and I was taken by how normal it all was.  Last night he was much more relaxed from the minute he was on the bed and in the middle of the night I concluded for the first time that this dog is going to be just fine.  He is going to be a dog that wants to cuddle.  I don't picture him ever enjoying cuddling on the couch because the couch seems too confining for him, whereas the bed gives him more space, although even with more space he chooses to be right next to me.  When he is sleepy he gets so cozy and open to allowing me to pet him to my hearts content but as a typical male when the morning comes he isn't nearly as cuddly and acts like the night before never happened.  I often want to start whining and ask him, did last night mean nothing to you?  All joking aside he is more receptive to being pet during the day but it's only at night when we're all tucked in that he transforms into a different dog and lets me pet him like any other dog would.  It is clear that his new bed from now on will be "my" bed and Stevie is tickled pink because she loves Alvin's doggy bed and with Alvin in the bed Stevie lays claim to his old bed.  I think Alvin has the better deal because I make sure he is on the down comforter and I have a Temper Pedic mattress so he has to be very comfortable.  But there's no telling Stevie this because she just loves the little dog bed.  It seems to be a better deal of everyone because due to Stevie's blindness she often walked on the cat in the middle of the night and/or walked on Timmie and so there were times when I woke to the cat or Timmie growling and Stevie being confused as to what had happened.

Throughout the whole eye cleaning situation I have learned something else about Alvin and that is that when he runs away his OCD/autism or whatever it is, kicks in and he has to run in a particular loop and so when he runs from me I simply cut go to the other side of the loop and wait an even with him seeing me standing there he can't make himself go in another direction and I catch him easily.

We are continuing our training with Alvin continuing to cheat by trying to get away with half sitting.  He also is a greedy little guy and when it's Timmie's turn for a treat Alvin tries to practically steal it out of Timmie's mouth, which is both brave and completely insane but Alvin enjoys food like no other dog I have met. 

I have attached a video of Alvin in bed last night.  He seems drugged because he is so relaxed but I assure you that he is not drugged and this is how far he has come.  When he went in for his eye surgery I was tempted to ask the vet if I could hold him once he was put under because I assumed it would be the only time that I could hold Alvin and I have so wanted to be able to hold him.  I had no idea that in a matter of a couple weeks I would be able to fall asleep with him pressing against me.  Unfortunately, I possess a personality that always pushes things to the limit and I have been so tempted when he has been asleep like this to try to put him in my lap and hold him but I think that would completely flip him out and so I am trying to remain respectful of his limits but when you watch this video I think you will see how tempting it is.  This video also allows the viewer to see what his eyes look like from his recent surgery and shows why I don't put the Adopt Me bandanna on him at the dog park.  I am assured the pigment will come back...........months from now.  In the meantime, we will remain in hiding as much as possible.

Last, thank you to those of you who have left comments.  There isn't a feature that allows me to respond to each one of them, which is a shame because I would like too but I do very much appreciate each one of them.