11 AM

 

Some may recall that I mentioned my wife Jackie has had Alzheimer's for several years and one of the side affects is unusual sleep habits. Jackie's Doctor suggested an herbal treatment with Melatonin before bedtime and it has allowed her to get many a good night sleep since I started giving it to her. Well, her constant companion Rottweiler Axl, who never leaves her side - day or night - sleeps on her bed right on his own pillow next to her's. The joke around here is that he gets to sleep while he is at work and during the night protecting my wife is his job. Well, I woke up this morning around 9:30 AM and noticed both my wife and Axl were still sound asleep so I decided to leave them alone. I took out Sassy and Ruffin and then gave them breakfast and sat down and had my own breakfast and read the newspaper. Around 11 AM I decided to wake up the rest of the crew before it was time for lunch. I got my wife out of bed and got her dressed and Axl was still sound asleep. I literally had to shake him (gently, of course) to get him awake. He had slept for 12 hours straight and so had my wife. Needless to say, Axl promptly took an after breakfast nap on the couch with my wife sitting next to him. Axl was 11 years old last September. Every night he trots into Jackie's bedroom and jumps up on her bed with the greatest of ease and I am amazed he is still able to do this.