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Saturday, September 4, 2010

Things That Scream In The Night

Early Thursday morning, all was well in our household until around two o'clock.  That's when Bunny, who was sleeping in the middle of the bed, woke Mr. Taleteller and I from a sound sleep with the Greyhound Scream of Death.  To say that I thought I'd have a heart attack is putting it mildly.  I flipped on the lamp and sat straight up in bed.

If you've never heard the Greyhound Scream of Death, consider yourself fortunate.  It's a Greyhound tactic that will stop just about anyone's heart in their chest.  It's a high-pitched scream that rivals the most chilling sound from any horror movie.  Someday, I hope to catch it on video, but I don't know if our readers will be able to take the shock.  Greyhounds don't emit this sound when they have been seriously injured.  For those readers who remember Hawk, he was once injured in an accident in our van that left the bone of his leg exposed, and he didn't even whimper.  Let him step on a fan cord, though, and you're in for a near-fatal heart attack.  Greyhounds are born drama queens and kings -- I guess it comes from being the companions of nobility for so long.  They let The Scream loose when they feel a trivial twinge of pain that might possibly produce more pain and need to let everyone within a twenty block radius know.  A certain blue fawn Greyhound was known to emit this sound during her obedience class days when her leash was inadvertently stepped on while she was supposed to be doing a down-stay.  Alas, I digress.

The craziest part was that she seemed to wake herself up with her own screaming.  My husband was talking to her and after a brief check of my pulse to be sure I hadn't had a heart attack, I climbed out from beneath my quilt to stroke her shoulder and talk quietly to her.  She must have screamed for a good two minutes, and I was scared that she was really injured, although there didn't appear to be any way that she could be.

Morgan stood on guard at the foot of the bed, her nose poking over as she tried to figure out who was attacking her pack mate. She was on the alert, but she couldn't find the source of the threat, so she paced the foot of the bed, leaning over to sniff Bunny's ear in a gesture that seemed to suggest that she was offering comfort or at least concern.

Of course, Blueberry and Lilac both slept through the whole incident.  Nothing comes between a Greyhound and her beauty sleep.  I guess they figured they could give Bunny the sniff over when they woke up in the morning with no bags under their eyes.

When we'd gone to sleep, hours before, Bunny had been curled up between our pillows, her head resting on mine as she curled up in a little ball.  Morgan had been on the foot of the bed, but she rarely stays on the bed all night.  After Morgan had jumped off the bed to keep vigil from the floor, Bunny had moved to the center of the bed and stretched out, no doubt asserting that she was still Queen of the King-Size Bed.  It appears that when she relocated, she laid down on the edge of Mr. Taleteller's quilt and then later pinched herself on the quilt binding.

After all that, I crawled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, glad that we didn't have to wash all the bedding yet again this week since she didn't actually scare the pee out of me.  I admit that I might have felt Mr. Taleteller's side of the bed when he got up to visit the bathroom after I got back, just to be sure.  All I know is that I'm glad that the temperature is about to start dropping and quilt season is just around the corner.  We won't have to worry about the Princess and the Pea Effect when she's sleeping under the quilt as opposed to on top of it!

We're participating in the Pet Blog Hot again this weekend. If you'd like to join in, it's pretty simple. Add your link into the McLinky tool and copy and paste the code into your html editor. We're very thankful to Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confesssions of the Plume for hosting the blog hop every weekend!



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27 comments:

  1. Sibes are known fur their death skhreams too -

    Of khourse, I have no idea what THAT means!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

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  2. Cabby is the scream of death master at our house!

    -Bully and Nelson

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  3. Oh the limitless repertoire of canine noises.

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  4. Song makes all sorts of weird noises when she's asleep. When she is awake the worst one is when she see a black and white cat - it is indiscribable:)

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  5. Good grief, I've only experienced a few maybe 5 sec screams of death, one that lasted 2 minutes would have been horrific!!

    Beryl has also mastered a digusted whimper in recent days when I haven't noticed a supposed broken toe and given appropriate consoling and kisses immediately, lol. Kisses go on the top of the head and not the muddy foot, I hasten to add:-) Gotta love 'em.

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  6. Gracious it sounds as if she must have been having a terrible nightmare! Perhaps the rabbits were after HER this time??

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  7. Well, that sounds entertaining. I'm no greyhound, but maybe I should try it. Nothing like a lot of attention in the middle of the night, I always think.

    lotsa licks, Lola

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  8. Poor Bunny! I scream sometimes too when I am having a bad dream:)
    I am glad to hear that you and Mr. Taleteller
    did not wet the bed!

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  9. I've never heard about the scream of death, but it would certainly freak me out. Glad you escaped the middle of the night pee. Twice in a week is TOO much.

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  10. Oh Bunny, you are a drama queen. I am quite familiar with the Princess and the Pea story - one of my sister's favorites. We just read it last night.

    Your pal, Pip

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  11. Oh Bunny, what a drama queen you are!!! I didn't know that you're a good soprano too!!!

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  12. LOL! The scream of death! I know that sound. You described it perfectly! :)

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  13. Woof! Woof! I do the same things n some odd leg moves. Happy BLOG HOP Weekend. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  14. Wow... I can't imagine a 2 minute scream of death! I'm not functional when I'm abruptly awakened - I don't know how you didn't have a heart attack!

    http://istillwantmorepuppies.blogspot.com

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  15. Looks like drama queen Bunny can be dramatic in her sleep too... but nothing beats some attention in the middle of the night :)

    Licks, hero

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  16. That is so funny that you took these pics. I took very similar pictures of my mini dachshund this morning curled up in the sheets!

    Just found your blog through the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop! Have a great weekend!

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  17. OH yes, sibes have that same scream when they are nowhere in pain. We like to do it when we see the nail clippers coming and start screaming even before the clipping begins.

    Hope you get a better night's sleep tonight:)

    Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

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  18. I found video once of a greyhound puppy emitting the Scream of Death while crated and played it for my wife. She didn't believe it was coming from a dog at first.

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  19. I know exactly what you we went through. Schniff used to do the midnight scream from time to time, with some help from my Vet (& observation) we worked out he was having nightmares but only after eating cheese. He'd do his little scream, wake himself up and then get all sookie with me. Funny creatures. Still at least the bed was dry this time! Have you thought that might have been a nightmare?

    XpS (Spiffo & Cami)

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  20. Oh poor Bunny,

    Wuz she havin' bad dreams? :(

    WOofs and Licks,
    Maggie Mae

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  21. Oh my, what a way to wake up. I think that I'd actually have a heart attack!

    I thought of you the other night when R had a pee accident in the middle of the night and we had the "opportunity" to change the bed sheets at 2 AM. Then, it happened again, each of the following two nights. We finally got to sleep through the night last night but our vet now thinks that R might have a more serious problem than we previously thought. Life never calms down, does it?

    I love your posts. I almost always giggle at least once during them!

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  22. Bunny!
    You chose an interesting way to wake them up!
    Happy weekend
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

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  23. Poor Bunny! and poor hoomans too, of course!
    sounds like a scary night.
    We are glad you're okay.

    Love, Bella & Ollie.

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  24. Our first GSOD - from Joy - was also in the middle of the night. We still have no idea what it was all about but it scared the life out of us. But she never once whimpered when she broke her tail badly earlier this year. She's also let out a good one in the water and her head started going under - so imagine the GSOD with "gurgle, gurgle" at the end. That one made us laugh pretty hard; she was not impressed. Red has yet to bless us with her GSOD, but I'm sure we just need to give it some time!

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  25. I know that scream of death sound very well. Every time it happens, it makes me frantic.

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  26. Followin'along the blog hop trail. We r nu followerz tu - Shiloh'n Shasta here - good to meet some fellow houndz. Mom sez we du sumthin'like the Greyhound Scream only Shiloh duz the Beagle AROOOOOO in the middle of the nite - we r all asleep an'suddenly he sitz up an'lookz at the window then we all hear this louddeep AROOOOOOOO an'we ALL WAKE UP - mom tu.

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  27. Scare the pee outta you? *LOL*

    Glad Bunny's all ok and she was just being a drama queen :) I haven't heard the greyhound's scream of death before but any kind of scream when you are in deep sleep will surely give you a heart attack :)

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