Watching the Olympics With My Dog

I love watching the Olympics! Seymour loves sleeping beside me. The two don't mesh well together. The problem is that I am not a "quiet" couch potato like I am when I'm watching, say, "America's Next Top Model" or CNN. Seymour is used to the normal me - a person who can sit in front of the TV for 3 hours watching and listening, but not commenting on what I see. Mainly because I am busy eating popcorn, but still -

The Olympics is a different story. I'm as nervous as the parents and coaches of each Olympian. When they make a mistake, I jump and yell "oh no!" and Seymour jumps and puts his nose almost on mine while looking in my eyes. He is trying to figure out what is wrong with me. I tell him everything is OK and try to get him to lay back down when I abruptly shout again at two snowboarders who crash into each other. Seymour again pops up and gets in my face - just staring at me. If he could talk I know he'd be saying "What is your friggin' problem? You are severely disrupting my sleep and I am not a happy dog right now. Now settle down!" The more I yell at the TV the longer Seymour locks eyes with me in undisguised disgust. I find that I break eye contact first, he is that good. If he had opposing thumbs he would be using the squirt bottle on me.

Apparently, he does not seem to see the irony in the fact that he sometimes runs out the doggie door (I have to remember to lock that thing) at midnight, barking incessantly at - whatever - while ignoring my efforts to quiet him down and get him back in the house. Talk about losing sleep and trying to quiet the adrenaline rush I go through each time that happens. But I don't stare him down when he finally comes in. I do not see the difference here.

I realize that he is just a dog - and as such should not have control over how I watch TV, but I also understand that he needs his sleep and for 2 weeks I will be disrupting it. I am willing to compromise a bit - if he limits his midnight barking, I will work on using only my facial expressions and finger clenching, with no audible sounds, during emotional parts of the games. We are currently in negotiations.