Dogs generally like having a routine and it can cause them to behave abnormally when their routine is disrupted. This would also be likely if it tends to wake up early on the weekends. If you normally wake up at a certain time, but you have started waking up at different times, the cause could be that it is used to waking up at a certain time. In this case, it might be worth following the tips given in this book on Amazon about dealing with dog separation anxiety. The reason that separation anxiety might cause it to get up earlier could be that it wants to be around you sooner. This would be more likely if it starts showing signs of becoming anxious when you are about to leave it at night. This is where it does not like being left alone and the prospect of being left alone causes it to become anxious. The cause could also be that it has some separation anxiety. Of the four books, I think I prefer One Good Turn but I’d have to read them all again to be sure which would be no hardship.2.7 Get help Why your dog wakes up so earlyīelow are nine common causes and what would make them more likely to be the reason why your dog has been doing it. There was some knitting I wanted to finish but after a few rows I just had to pick up the book again and read on. Not at all what you’d call ‘a nice book’ because so much of it is seen from the point of view of Tracy, whose years in the Force have given her a jaded view of human beings and the dangers of the world. Police corruption in the 1970s features heavily, with appropriate references to Life on Mars but we also get 2010 with no Woolworths and no money. It’s brilliantly written, full of literary references and barbed comments on the world then and now. Neat, eh? The narrative zooms backwards and forwards until the truth is revealed about that long-ago murder. Jackson meanwhile, has virtually stolen a mistreated dog. Now in charge of security at a shopping centre (shades here of What was Lost) she virtually kidnaps a child she believes to be at risk. The main character turns out to be not Jackson but Tracy, also ex-police. In 2010 Jackson Brodie is working for a woman in New Zealand who wants to trace her birth parents. Note the date: the book is full of Ripper references. Started Early is the fourth novel to feature Jackson Brodie, the ex-army, ex-copper and now in theory ex-private investigator who has such a talent for getting himself into trouble.

Nothing like that here in the sticks (Kate who?) but I knew already that I wanted to read it after enjoying Case Histories, One Good Turn, and When Will There Be Good News? (all links to my comments). I’m told that all over London there are posters advertising Started Early, Took my Dog by Kate Atkinson.

Left early took the dog