The “R” Word and The “W” Word

All of my mutt Daisy, Spec and Tigger 

It is funny how dogs catch on to our daily habits as humans.  I am a very routine person and so are all three of my dogs.  I wake close to the same time even on my days off and I go to bed around the same time each night.  My dogs are ready to get up around the same time each day. My morning routine is pretty normal every single day.  My dogs get fed on a pretty ridged schedule. They get walked or ran everyday.  Rarely does a day go by that they do not have some form of exercise.  Even with exercise I have a routine that I go through before the walk or run them.  It starts with putting on my shoes which doesn’t’ always produce excitement in my dogs. I am a personal trainer so I wear running shoes everyday to work.  The smartest dog of my bunch is named Daisy and she doesn’t miss a beat.  Putting my shoes on gets her attention but she is not sure if that means we are going for a walk or run, both of which I don’t dare say. We refer to it as as R or W around my house because saying the word will produce mayhem.  These steps increase the excitement of the dogs as I go through each of them:

·      Putting on my shoes

·      Going to the pantry to get my 2 squares of gum out of the gum cup

·      Going to the bag drawer to get my poop bag

·      Putting on sunglasses and/or sunscreen

·      Getting the leashes – this sets them over the top with excitement

The shoes get Daisy’s attention but not the other two, Spec and Tigger.  The gum gets Daisy a little more excited than the shoes.  Getting the poop bag really gets her going and the other two start to notice her excitement.  When I get the leash it is hardto contain the excitement!  They are creatures of habit just like meJ