Morning Ritual

If I get up to my alarm and roll out of bed directly to the shower, my dogs all seem to disappear quietly into the depths of darkness (because that's when I get up for work, at 4:45 AM) No one greets me with exuberant energy, barks, and whines. Occasionally, one will stop by the bathroom while I'm putting on my make-up to say good morning. Yoko will always stop in and stand on the toilet seat while I dry my hair, looking longfully at me. It's a fairly sad picture.

If Wayne gets up to leave for work before I get up, the whole picture changes. It's all my 5 dogs can do to let me sleep in until 6:45 to about 7:15. They know, Mama's home today! They can barely contain themselves. It's almost as if they will combust at any moment. If I open my eyes, you can best bet that a Border Collie is staring directly an inch or two in front of my face. Occasionally, Jet will stare at me and give a bit of a whine. When I roll over to my other side, the room becomes a flurry of motion. Is she getting up?

Trouble (JRT), comes out from under the covers at the first sign that I might be stirring. She likes to jump on my back and run up and down it. This is my morning massage ritual. She only weighs 11 lbs., so it feels quite nice. But, as soon as Trouble starts dancing on my back, the rest of the canine group starts to party wildly. Next Kilt will give her 30 second arrrrr,rarrrr, rarrr vocal song that always makes me laugh. As soon as I laugh they ALL go insane. If you can get the mama to laugh that early in the morning on her day off, you know you have her where you want her.

The room comes alive as I try to stretch and get up. I can't get up now because Kilt has jumped up on the bed and has stretched her body across my legs rocking back and forth singing her best arrrr, rarrr, rarrrs. Yoko has now jumped on and off the bed about 10 times, and has most likely has flung a toy directly at me to catch. I'm NOT a good catcher that early in the morning. Jet at age 10 has turned into the morning whiner. It's a little more than I can take in the morning, but for some reason he has started his own ritual. We call him Mr. Whiney.

Now Trouble is running around the perimeter of the bed trying to nip all of the Border Collies in the face with pure glee and mischievousness. Xena, the lab, the ONLY good dog stands around and WAGS watching the drama unfold. On occasion she will jump on the bed and give me a huge sloppy Joe kiss. Yuck, kissed by a dog. I'm up, already. As soon as I'm upright, it's a good thing I don't have vertigo because the room is alive with toys being thrown, barks, whines, and running up and down the stairs like maniacs.

My friends think I'm nuts. NONE of my non-dog friends could imagine having to wake up to that scenario on their day off. Me, I look forward to it. It's kind of like having a marching band, waving flags, and a crowd saluting you for just getting up to start the day. Of course, all 5 know I'm staying home. They know they are getting a big biscuit. They know we will work sheep, do agility, or hike. They aren't dummies!


Below is not our morning ritual, but pretty much our evening chaos!