Did you know that dogs can tell time? We have had several dogs during our marriage and didn't realize this until Bella came along. She is a highly routine canine.
Beginning the Day:
Morning routines aren't as well-timed as evenings but they are still strictly routine.
Usually, I get up by 8, fix my coffee and lay out pills before I go into the living room,
say to her, "Time to open the curtains," and talk about whether it's a sunshiny day or a cloudy, rainy one. That triggers her to lay down and get into position for a full-body massage, ALWAYS laying on her right side. Her morning routine has already become one of my next manuscripts, either a poem or a children's book. Oops, no, no, no, you won't get any more details than that from me!
Next she eats breakfast and we take a nice long walk. Then it's time for Breakfast Part 2.
Bella is attentive as I fix my breakfast, especially when the peanut butter comes out for pbj toast. She waits to lick the knife.
The other routine that follows my pbj is a walnut hunt. I put seeds and walnut pieces on my pbj and one day when she was a pup, I dropped a nut. That action turned into her daily, after-breakfast walnut hunt when I hide a couple in sneaky places in the kitchen for her enticement.
Middle of Day: Routine here is one of two, either she spends the day resting near whatever room I'm working in or she goes to day care and runs with friends.
Ending the Day:
Evenings are tightly timed. If we aren't paying attention, Bella warns us that it's time for dinner at 5 minutes to 5pm. We eat after her and she sits near whoever is eating (usually me) and waits patiently to lick a plate. Then, she EXPECTS cookie-time by 6:30. This is her time where 2 or 3 small dog treats are hidden around the living room and she sniffs them out. She barks in my face if I dawdle with my dinner and delay her game.
Almost exactly 6:45 pm Bella rings her bell to warn us that she is ready for another walk. She insists that she needs to go out even though she went out at 5:15. If all goes as she plans, she is then ready to settle while we watch news of the day. At 9:30 she will come check on us to go on her final walk of the day.
While her timing may vary by a few minutes, we marvel how often they match. I think she found a routine home with US and fit herself in, but my husband disagrees. He thinks SHE is the boss and we just became routine to match her. What do YOU think?
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