When you have one dog the dog becomes a member of your family. When you have two dogs the dogs become members of your family. But when you have three or more dogs you have become a member of a dog pack.
Dog packs live by rules. The maintenance of order and keeping to a routine are very high values. And that order and routine pertains to you just as much as it does to the other dogs.
My routine begins every morning at 3:00am. Mira, our ten-month-old puppy wakes us up. I don’t know if she’s just lonely or if she’s hungry (Mira is always hungry) or if she just can’t hold it any longer.
If my wife gets up and lets Mira out to relieve herself, there’s some chance that both of us will get another couple of hours of sleep. If I’m a good and caring husband and I get up to let Mira out, my wife will get another couple of hours of sleep but I’ll be up for good. Most days I decide to be selfish and try to catch those extra hours of sleep.
Our day begins in earnest when my wife’s alarm goes off at 5:00am. If he’s not already with us, Qila, our eight-year-old male, will join us to cuddle for a while. Qila is a world-class cuddler. My wife usually rises around 5:20am and takes the girls with her into the bathroom for her shower leaving Qila and me to snooze until just before dawn.
Around dawn Qila decides it’s time to get up. Barking is his preferred weapon for rousing me. For Qila rousing me is a sacred duty. If he didn’t rouse me, no doubt I would lie down in the snow and die. Sometimes I can persuade him to let me lie in bed attempting to come to until 6:15am. That’s when the continuous barking will start. Time to get up. I drag myself to my feet, struggle into my sweats (thermal underwear if it’s cold enough), put on my shoes, throw a jacket on, grab a plastic bag, collar Qila and Jennie, our nine-year-old bitch, and we all take off for a brisk one and a half to two mile walk.
Jennie, the perfect girl, is always a joy to walk. Qila is a handful. He must sniff and preferably urinate on every tree and rock we pass on our morning walk. By the end of our two miles both Jennie and Qila have defecated and I have a full plastic bag. We are responsible dog owners. When I get home I drop the bag in the garbage can reserved for the purpose and go inside the house. There’s a joyful reunion with much yelping, sniffing of ears and rears, and jumping. Twenty minutes of rest until breakfast.
gEye,
Would like to hear more dog stories! Maybe one day could it be published into a book?
Dave –
Good one. Sent it on to Jim West.
Don