I’ve been engaged in a battle of wills with Sammy the past few nights. I blocked off his access to the couch and it doesn’t sit well with Mr. Sammy T. Remember when I wrote that the dogs were sleeping on the couch while I was on my trip? Well Sammy seems to think it’s his right to be there every night instead of on one of his comfy dog beds. He comes upstairs to sleep when we go to bed, and then about half an hour after the lights go out I hear him sneaking down the stairs and jumping on the couch. Sometimes Molly joins him.

So, two nights ago I blocked off the couch with kitchen chairs. I spent the entire night listening to him whine and pace, with his toenails clicking on the hardwood floor. Four times I got out of bed to stand at the top of the stairs and tell him to GO TO BED….RIGHT NOW! I always have to add the RIGHT NOW in my Papa voice so he knows I’m serious. Molly doesn’t even try to get up there at night anymore. I think she realizes that I mean business. Last night, I got up two times to tell Sammy to go to bed. The first time he came slinking back upstairs and was up there for quite a while before he tried again. When he went down the second time I heard one of the chairs move, so I think he’s trying to figure out how to get the chair out of the way. The first night I heard him get up on the woodstove hearth, like he was going to jump on the couch from the side. This dog is too smart for his own good!

Nevertheless, I am the Mommy and I get to be the boss of him whether he believes it or not. I have a sinking feeling that this will be my life with Sammy – a constant battle of the wills. As in me saying, “Oh yes you will, Sammy!”