Full fledged pack member at last

It was a cold January morning with a bright blue sky and sunshine when we went to pick up our puppy. She lived on a lane, off a gravel road, off a service road, off the highway so it wasn't so easy to find her. I started thinking it was a sign that we should wait till spring to get a new dog as sensible people would. But suddenly, up ahead, we saw a young woman batting tennis balls in the snow for her border collie to fetch. Trailing behind them were three fat little half foot long puppies with their tails straight up in the air. We brought a squirming Bear on home. We played with her and laughed at her antics and took her for a half dozen short walks. Then it was bedtime. We made her a little bed and confined her to the laundry room. I didn't expect her to be happy about being suddenly alone and she wasn't. We went up to bed though, figuring that she might as well get used to it. When we came down in the morning everything that someone so short could possibly reach and tear apart had been. The laundry room was trashed. We cleaned up the mess and my husband left for his workshop to make a little wood and wire cage. That little cage was where Bear spent her nights and her "time outs" for several months to come. When it began to get a little snug, I went shopping and bought her a kennel. Since then she has spent every night in her kennel for over a year. She never grew to love it and go there on her own as the books would have you believe. On the other hand, once there she was always quiet and seemingly content. But for the last few months we've noticed that when she sees people brushing their teeth and putting on pajamas, she sneaks off to our dark spare room and tries to become invisible. When she hears that it's bedtime, she rolls over on her back and puts her feet in the air. When she's finally persuaded to head for her laundry room bed/kennel she lets out a groan, and when the kennel door slams shut she barks one sharp protest. I began to think about how our former dog, Molly, had moved around on summer nights and stretched out on various new cool spots. I took pity on poor Bear who is growing up to be a somewhat calmer, more mature little Bear and perhaps deserved a chance to sleep where she chose. Two nights ago I went upstairs and left her to her own devices. About an hour later I heard her tiptoeing up the steps and settling down on the rug on my husband's side of the bed. She went from one bedside rug to the other during the night. About four a.m., when it was getting light, she put her feet up on the bed and laid her head on my chest and tried to kiss me. She was one proud and happy Bear, finally really, truly part of the family--day and night. However, four a.m. seems to be her wake up time. She woke me up then again this morning. I told her it was still bedtime and she should lie back down. She did and then went downstairs with my husband at five a.m. [His wake up time.] She seems to like it best when we're all together, so she came to check if I was awake yet two more times between five and seven.