I miss my old morning ritual with my dogs. (One of my dogs was ill and pts a few months ago.) She had such a zest for life and she made getting up in the morning fun and joyful. I’m not sure if it was me stirring in bed that gave her the notion that it was time to get up, or if it was something else like the alarm clock (that didn’t go off every morning). She started with her large fluffy tail banging on the floor or between the night table and floor – depending on her sleeping position. What a racket! If I didn’t lean over quickly enough to greet her she would sit up and wait for me to pat the bed (her cue) or tell her to go back to sleep. This bed patting was the key to getting the morning started. She would hop onto the bed – everything except her back feet — because she wasn’t supposed to be “on” the bed but leaning on it this way was ok. At first just the front feet were allowed, then the chest, and eventually almost everything else. She would get a good hearty rub all over and smiled and wagged. Sometimes she would kind of roll onto her side (back feet still on the floor!) and get a belly rub, too. When I was done, she’d jump off and start following me around to make sure she didn’t miss anything that might happen. She loved getting up in the morning and I loved helping her help me to start it off in this fun lovey-dovey and important way. It turns out that it was important to me too. I didn’t think it was. It was a great way to start the day and I really miss her.
Tags: alarm clock, belly rubs, dog, morning, patting, tail wagging
