Bedtime

I have a night time ritual of going about, turning off lights, locking doors, etc. While I'm doing this I always tell the dogs, "Let's go to bed!" Isabelle (usually asleep by this time on her living room pallet) will rouse up and stumble to the bedroom. Tallulah, however, has gotten into the strange habit of waiting until Isabelle and I are both in the bedroom and then climbing up into a living room chair and waiting for me to come and get her.

I have no idea what's up with that. Tallulah knows the ritual. I'm not sure where she's gotten the idea that her assigned role is to wait for me in a chair, but it's been going on for weeks. Isabelle and I will be settling in in the bedroom and I'll realize Tallulah (normally inches away from me at any given moment) is nowhere in evidence. I'll find her huddled in the dark living room alone. Seemingly waiting for me.

Has she gotten it in her head that she's too good to take the day's final journey under her own steam? Does she have a secret desire to sleep in a chair? Is she just confused? I sat down in the floor at eye-level with the dog last night and asked her these questions when I revisited the living room to retrieve her. She didn't have any answers, but seemed awfully interested in the questions. The camera was nearby, so I picked it up and snapped a photo, sans flash, in the darkness. Once auto-corrected, this grainy image emerged:

She seems to want to say something, judging from the alert, inquisitive expression. In truth, she's probably just wishing I'd fry her up a nice, thick strip of bacon.