Bedtime! that’s what we say when it’s time to head on upstairs and snuggle down in our beds: people in the people bed, dogs in the dog beds. Despite the Bedtime! declaration, Rei and Sage are very aware of anything stirring outside. When coyotes wail or yammer, Rei will grumble and growl till she can’t stand holding back- then she’ll burp out a sharp bark. I tell her to settle down, gentle, Bedtime! She will grumble and lay back down. I have sat up at the window with Sage rumbling as the big owl hooted for twenty minutes. And if someone is talking or making people noise somewhere, the dogs bark out a warning! In fact, sometimes they have gone off on a barking bender at the tender footfalls of deer tippytoe-ing across the soft snow to nibble twigs and arborvitaes next door. So we could not believe it last night when after all tucked into bed we heard cats yowling and screaming, possibly in our own yard, but if not then right across the road and both dogs did absolutely nothing. Nope. Not a peep out of either Reactive Boy or Guardy Girl. Not until Jeff and I opened our eyes and remarked to each other in the dark how we could neither of us be-LIEVE that our normally highly cat-activated canines seemed not to care a bit did Reilly begrudgingly give a soft grrrrrrrowl. Was she indulging us with a token warning to the cats, just to maintain her reputation? Had she been quiet because the dogs finally realized that the training mantra on my chalkboard must be accepted, that Crazy really does get you nothing? Or was she grumbling for Jeff and I to settle down, it’s Bedtime!