Lucas rests his muzzle on my pillow and waits. As soon as I open my eyes, he starts a full-body wag. “Morning’s here!” his eyes say, then he licks my nose.
Every morning, that’s how Lucas wakes me up. And I think it’s pretty precious every morning.
Except when the time changes.
When the clock said 5:30 yesterday, I groaned. Now, I know it’s sort of the “same” as 6:30 was on Saturday (huh?! why do we do this again?!) but it feels so different when the first number on the clock is a 5.
So we made them wait… and wait… and we fed them at their “usual” time, 7:00. Then they started asking for dinner at 4. Again, we made them wait.
And I felt bad.
Imagine if you had zero control over your schedule. Someone else told you when and for how long to exercise. It was up to someone else to allow you to go to the bathroom. You were at the whim of someone remembering to put water out for when you get thirsty. Sleeping and eating? Those are decided for you, too.
Maybe this is personifying, but I think this is why dogs need/thrive on routine. If you had zero control over most of your life, wouldn’t you want to know what’s going to happen and when? So you may not get to decide what you eat for dinner, but you know it’s coming at 5. You might not get to pick your bedding or where you lay your head at night, but at least you know light’s out is around 10. And when your belly starts rumbling at 6? You know breakfast is only an hour – and an trip outside – away.
It seems to me that would be reassuring that, even though you don’t really know what’s going to happen, you sorta know what’s going to happen. Or, at least, when.
Are your dogs super routinized? Do they expect breakfast, dinner, potty breaks, and bedtime on the dot? Or do they have a more flexible schedule?
My dogs are definitely on a routine. Breakfast around 6-630, dinner around 730, “night night” at 1000. It does change a bit on weekends, and they even let us sleep in then. I personally feel routine and structure are important to dogs.
I really agree. I think that routine and structure give them a sense of comfort. They don’t have control over their schedule, but they know what to expect!
After being routinely woken up too @&!# early by cold dog noses applied to my feet or cat feet running over my head I went Pavlovian on the herd’s furry little butts. I set up an alarm on my phone with a distinctive ring and did not feed them until that alarm went off. It took a few weeks but by now they’ve got it, the dogs especially and don’t worry about food until the magic sound goes off. At times when I have to be off schedule I’ll set the timer for a few minutes with that ring, walk away and start feeding them after it goes off. That way I’m not the food master but just a humble servant of the mighty dinner bell, subject to its whims as much as they are.
Brilliant, Erik. Simply brilliant.
We’re pretty flexible except for waking up in the morning. Their clocks went off on daylight savings time and no amount of reasoning or explaining could convince them to sleep another hour. I don’t know how long this will last, but judging from years past it will be a long time.
Yeah… why does it take so long to acclimate?! Good luck to you!
My dogs follow routines too. It is a little hard not to personify them, but following a routine both them and me to ensure that they get everything- food, walks, playtime, rest- that they’re supposed to.
Such a good point! A routine definitely helps keep ME on track, too!
Luckily, I am usually the first one up at the horrifying hour of five-something and I shower while everyone else catches a few more minutes of sleep or snuggle. That makes it nice for everyone when I get to sleep in until sevenish. They usually know approximately what time breakfast and dinner are, but are always more interested in sleep in the morning.
Aww! Those extra morning snuggles sound lovely! 🙂
Loved your “personifying”, after all they are like our little children. Great post!
I know, I can’t help it sometimes! 🙂 Thanks, Phyllis!
Our dogs are pretty routine oriented. That’s why I hate the time changes….even gaining an hour doesn’t help, when it just means the dogs are up an hour earlier that first morning. But actually, they adjust pretty quickly to the schedule change, within a day or two they are back to their usual times. I wish I adjusted so easily….my sleep patterns are off for at least a week after the time changes!
Same here!! All day I kept thinking… Why am I so tired?! Ugh. Naps this weekend! 🙂
Seriously!!
I’m with you on the naps! On top of it all, I had to do a blogpaws chat Tues night for a campaign…..up til 10pm doing that. Last night I fell asleep around 8:30 watching TV! 🙂