My dog Roxie woke me up at 6:15 am today.  When I went to the family room, I saw she was in a spot where I’ve never seen her before.  In fact, she was laying down in front of the couch looking for something under it.  Soon, she got up and paced from end to end of the couch, searching and scratching for what she thought might be there.

Why I was a bit worried about my dog Roxie.

To say I was concerned is an understatement.  That’s because in this part of North Carolina, there’s lots of talk of copperheads, mice, squirrels, and other varmints.  

I didn’t hear anything moving around, but she persisted in stalking whatever it was that made itself at home under my couch.  It was getting creepy, so, promising to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, I put her in her room for a break.

Nicolette to the rescue.

In situations like this, my instinct is to call my fearless daughter.  (See this Dance Safari post, “Lizards, and Skinks, and Guests, Oh, My!”)  However, it was Saturday and, at only 6:45 it was kind of early, so I decided to wait.  

Soon, the sun showed up and Roxie let me know that she needed to go out to do her doggie thing.  Mission accomplished.  Then, after she finished, she wanted to get back to the couch.  

It’s time to bring in the big dogs.

By now it was 7:21 and I couldn’t wait any longer, so I texted my daughter. “Good Morning”.  Nothing.  I waited until 7:56 to text her again.  “Roxie is stalking something under the couch.”

Here’s the totally inadequate response that I received at 8:11, “Great…” That’s it, just “Great…” So, I say to myself, “It appears she’s not in the mood to hunt down this critter. In that case, I’ll have to do it.”

I got this.

I told my dog Roxie to step aside and let me handle this. As gracefully as possible, I got down on all fours with my flashlight and tried to identify what was hiding under there. And, Roxie was right. There really was something under the couch.

I texted my daughter right away. “Omg, I see it! You’re not gonna believe this…” Right away, she texts back, “What? What is it?”

I couldn’t wait to tell her, so I called and, this time she picked up right away. I guess her curiosity was getting the best of her.

She asked me what it was. I explained that I would have sent a picture, but Roxie already ate it. “Ma, for cryin’ out loud, tell me what was under the couch!“

Yup, that’s right. It’s a chicken nugget that fell off my plate last night. It must have rolled under the couch and my hungry girl Roxie probably stood guard over it all night long. It was just out of her reach. That’s the reason she woke me up so early, to finally get at that tasty morsel.

Needless to say, my daughter accused me of messing with her. Of course, I’d never do that!