Okay, Dad. I Do Settle. And When I Do I Need to Be Behind You Cuddled in a Pile of Pillows So I Can Re-Energize and Let You Work

The ritual is easy to document now. At 5 a.m., the sunlight comes through the curtains and hits my eyes. I try not to roll over too harshly, as it will awake Karal in anticipation of morning Iams. She loves her breakfast. Usually, she's good for an hour, but then she's nibbling my nose or bouncing on my legs to get up to feed her. We begin with going outside, then she enters the house with tremendous enthusiasm. She scoffs down the food, then heads to her toys.

She usually gives me an hour of coffee, but then she leaps back on my shoulders so she can sleep for a couple more hours. This is rough, because if I move, she's up again, and I really need the two hour of morning productivity.

She then wakes up, gets all of her toys, and self-entertains until about 3 p.m., in which she comes looking for me to take her for a walk. We go for an hour or hour and a half, and then she's anxious for her dinner. The evening meal, however, gives her abundant energy, and we spring around the house, up and down the stairs, and all over the backyard. Last night, I trimmed several of the bushes in the backyard, which became a game of grab the trimmings and fly around the yard. The energy is pretty amazing and it doesn't stop. Then, as I was picking up all the trimmings, a game of running under the patio to get dirty became a thrill. So, I promised her the first bath.

To be honest, she watches me shower every morning. She pushes the curtain back and stares, occasionally getting toys to launch into the tub. I knew it wouldn't be a difficult time bathing her. She wanted to play with the water, and seemed to have more trouble with me drying her off than shampooing her. Yes, this made her even more hyper so we ran around for another two hours. 

Then, about 9 p.m. she leaped to her spot again, hovering over my shoulders, paws warmed by my back, with short puppy breaths thrownon my arm. She is content. She sleeps. She rests. And she's pretty much done for the day, with an occasional noise to stir her hear and there.

I will say, though, yesterday was the first time that she seemed to be really annoyed by the computer and cell phone. She really did all in her power to keep me from paying attention to my work so I could focus on her frog, or her alligator, or her bone, or her ball. So far, she has not brought me anything that doesn't belong to her. 

She was, however, fascinated by house-flies and she got them. She also was curious of me cutting my toenails...not for the clippings, but to lick each and every toe as I finished. 

And she continues to refuse to use lawns to do her business, one or two, except our own. I've never known a dog to do this, but she holds it the entire walk and then let's go upon return. This is new, as I've grown used to doggie bags and neighborhood public trashcans, never having to pick up out back, with Glamis. Nope. It's all landmines out there now.

But I appreciate the calm when she zonks out....it's like she's a guardian angel.