I wish I could remember which post it was so I could give proper credit, but recently a comment left by one of you fabulous folks really stuck with me. It was something like: “Oh, the crazy things we do when we have animals!”
The funny thing is, after I read that comment, I found myself thinking as I performed various tasks throughout the day, “Yep. This is probably one of those crazy things.”
In no particular order, here are 10 that I’ve noticed that may or may not be entirely un-crazy. (And, obviously, I’m dying to know what yours are, too! Please, please share in the comments!)
- Every morning, I pick up the throw blankets and pillows from the living room floor, which Lukey knocked off in the night. I fold them and place them back on the couch.
- When I collect Lucas and Cooper from doggy daycare, I barrage them with questions. “Did you have fun? Did you run and jump and play? Did you make any friends?” Despite knowing, of course, they can never tell me… I still like to ask.
- I save the last bits of yogurt containers for Emmett.
- Before I make lunch, I pick up the throw blankets and pillows from the living room floor, which Lukey knocked off during his late morning nap. I fold them and place them back on the couch.
- Sometimes when I snap a particularly cute pic of one of the herd on my phone, I like to show them my phone. “See how cute you look here! Aww!”
- In the afternoon, I like to make a snack and cup of tea. While waiting for the kettle to boil, I pick up the throw blankets and pillows from the living room floor, which Lukey knocked off during his afternoon nap. I fold them and place them back on the couch.
- Whenever we wash the dog beds, we make a big pile of them – which we call Super Beds – so they can each get a chance to nap on a huge stack.
- We spend all weekend shopping and cooking for Cooper. After making him lamb, salmon, quinoa, mixed veggies, steamed apples, and boiled potatoes, we’re too tired to cook anything else. And usually just get takeout. (Even Newt gets involved… see her on the counter? She thinks she’s so sneaky.)
- Lucas eats faster than his brothers. Emmett and Cooper both eat from slow-feeders, so as soon as Lucas is finished, he comes over to the sink to lick off the cat food spoon before it goes in the dishwasher.
- Every night before bed, I pick up the throw blankets and pillows from the living room floor, which all three of them knocked off while we were settled in reading or watching TV. I fold them and place them back on the couch so that Lucas can paw, circle, twirl them into his preferred sleeping arrangement that, apparently, includes knocking them all on the floor at some point in the night.
I’m not the only one, right?? You guys do some potentially, possibly nutty things throughout the day for your herds? Right?! I’d love to know what they are!! Please share your routines in the comments!
Ha! That’s quite a list. I used to have 4 throw pillows on the living room (dog) sofa. Every time I put them on the sofa my little goofball spends the rest of the night bringing them to me in another room. I also have to bribe him with a treat to give back his food bowl after every meal. We also have a lovely piece of cardboard blocking the stairs to stop him from going up and bringing us all sorts of things. I have an entire file of photos him with the things he brings us 🙂
That is so funny!!! Perhaps he’s inspired to be an interior decorator! Or trying to achieve feng shui!
oh man the list is too long and too embarrassing!! But I will join you in the barrage of questions at the end of the day. Our walker is named Danny so I always ask when I get home at night: how was Danny today? did you have a good time with Danny? And on Wednesday they go to the park with Sara so my questions are “how is Sara? how was the park? Who did you play with?” Both Sara and Danny always leave me notes of how things went, but I still ask the doodles all these questions!!
That’s adorable! If only they could tell us, huh? Just once!
What a list! I’m sure it could be 10xs longer. I think all these things we do are perfectly normal!!! I do the same sort of things with Cash, Shasta bunny and Tabbie Rattie. I save some of my yogurt for Cash, a little piece of cheese here and there, I trim a little piece of Melissa’s salmon for him, stuff like that. Tabbie gets a chicken wing every time I make them, he loves gnawing on them. I talk to all of them all the time, Cash gets full on conversations as do the bunny and rat, they are so social, smart and affectionate. Last kinda funny thing I do is whenever I leave the house I make sure I leave my slippers somewhere accessible so Cash can take them to cuddle with, it’s his thing, he’s the weird one not me ????
Oh, dear. That is way too sweet! He must feel comforted by having your smell with him all day?
your #7 “superbeds” cracked me up. I ask my dogs and cat where things are when I can’t find them. i.e., “didn’t I have some more gift bags in this closet?” and then when I find the item I was looking for, I credit that animal with “helping” me find it. i.e. “omg you were right! there IS another gift bag in here, thanks!”
HA! I could really use one of these guys to help me find stuff around here! 🙂
I tell Hershey and Graham to “have a good dog day” when I leave in the morning and feel a bit remiss if I forget to do so.
When I get back I’ll ask them if they did “dog things, like running, sniffing and pooping.”
I buy cheap window blinds because I know the cats or the dogs will destroy them sooner or later.
I repeatedly put toys back in the basket despite the fact that is the LAST place the dogs want them.
I have dog hair, paw prints and ripped leather in a potentially classic sports car because getting the dogs to the dog park is more important than resale value.
What is it with the toy basket?! Every time I pick up their toys, they “correct” me by taking them all out and putting them back exactly where they wanted them in the first place!
We laughed and laughed at this, and our mom certainly needed a good laugh. she does do lots of crazy stuff for us, she cooks us livers and gizzards every week and cuts them in tiny pieces so we can eat them wif our food, she washes all our bedding and toys all the time, she always puts a blanket on her legs whether it is summer or winter while she is sitting in the recliner so we can all lay in our special spots….and the list goes on and on, but we do loves her a lot!!! Stella Rose
Awww!! She clearly loves YOU a lot to do all those wonderful things!!
Loved this! One of your BEST!! Never even realized how many conversations I had with my pack. They may not be able to speak, but they do communicate with you with their eyes, movement of ears, tail wagging, , making talking sounds, and I even have one that pushes my hands and arms around to get what she wants. People who don’t have animals just have no idea how smart they are. What a joy they bring to us. Great post.
Thank you, Phyllis!! Oh, my goodness… the conversations. YEP! Since I work from home, I pretty much talk to them all day long, and by all those things you mentioned – the ears, tail, etc. – I feel like they ARE responding to my conversation! You’re so right – so much joy!
HA! I love how many times per day the blankets are folded and placed back on the couch 😉 I’m sure there’s more “crazy” things I do than I can think of – I definitely have conversations with my own dog as well as the dogs at our daycare. If I’m having an especially good day, I will insist on dancing with some of them (weird, I know!). And I always give the last bite of my cheese stick to Riley!
Dancing! So fun!! I bet they love it! The last bite is so sweet, and I’m sure Riley appreciates it. Emmett has gotten the last bite of just about every sandwich I’ve eaten over the last 9 years! 🙂 They deserve it!
Every night I remove at least two toys from the bed before I get in it. One of these is always the big green “security” dragon. Then I pick Daisy up and move her over, because I feel too guilty to kick her off the bed. Later, she gets moved to her own bed. She also gets to lick the bowl when I stuff her kongs for the week. I try to sneak into the apartment when I come home so that I can see where she has been napping. (My favorites have been on the dining room table in the sunshine and ON TOP of her crate, snuggled into some blankets that she stole.) And whenever she’s doing something weird (like making nests out of dirty laundry) one of us asks, “Daisy, you weird dog, WHAT are you doing?” And the other person always answers “Dog stuff. You guys wouldn’t understand.”
Oh, my gosh. First off, Amanda, your nightly routine is just about the cutest thing ever!! So sweet! But the sneaking in?! That cracked me up!!! She must’ve been so shocked to have you sneak up on her dozing on the TABLE! Or on top of her crate!! So, so funny! Thank you for sharing!!
I laughed… my girls – four dachshunds, get a hug and a kiss every morning as I leave for work and tell them to be good and have a good day. They always get the last of my yogurt and get upset that they have to wait until I eat all that I want of it. My standard reason to them is “you know that you don’t get to eat off of my spoon until I finish.” They don’t care. Every morning when I leave, I go into the bedroom and get their fleece blanket off of the bed and put it on the couch for them. This is just a few examples……the entire list is way too long.
HAHA!!! “… and get upset that they have to wait until I eat all that I want of it.” That is sooooo Lucas! He will paw at my leg when he thinks I should be finished!
LOL at the throw blankets! I know the feeling, I am forever picking up and washing dog blankets.
Oh, the washing. Isn’t it amazing how much extra laundry there is with dog blankets? It’s a constant battle against fur around here! 🙂
That’s a great list! We do lots of crazy stuff, like we have “conversations”. One of us will ask the dog questions, and the other one will answer in the dog’s “voice.” Probably the craziest is that the hubs lets her shove him over to one side of the bed so SHE can be comfy!
Jackie!!! I’m SO GLAD you mentioned the dog’s “voice.” That is too perfect! We have a different voice for each of the four herd members here, and we often answer questions in their voices. I’m so glad you shared that you do that, too!! So glad we’re not alone in that particular quirk! 😉
That’s a great exercise routine, pillow picking and blanket folding, lol!
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve headed out the door for a nice dinner out and some shopping which suddenly turns into a carryout meal and hike because “someone” gives us the “Can I go too, please? Please?” look. 🙂
Oh, how sweet is that, Elaine?! I bet those revised activities are even more fun with your pup along! 🙂
Hello! I’m new to your blog but already I love it. I especially love the Emmett posts. Tiger goes to the vet pretty regularly at her age and we get the butterflies just before we hear back from the vet after a blood test, so I can empathise with what you and Emmett are going through.
Anyway…
I am so guilty of No. 2. I don’t feel so alone now. She definitely heard me because her ears twitch and her tail goes crazy.
My routine is quite strange: I like to get down to her level to see what she’s doing and sometimes I sniff her muzzle to see what she’s been eating. I’m 5″8 and she’s about 9.8 inches tall so I try to flatten myself on the floor with my cheek to the ground trying to get a good look at her. When she was younger and had better sight she would look at me, perplexed, for a few seconds before bathing my face in saliva. These days she just ignores me until I get right up in her face. I think she secretly likes it. I hope she secretly likes it!
And if she’s lying there, I like to sniff her paws. It’s like crack!
Thank you so, so much for the kind words, and I’m so glad you’re here!
So, smelling the paws… totally normal, in my book! 🙂 I love that corn chip smell!
I talk to mine quite a lot, like they could actually understand what I’m saying.
When I come home from work to reunite with the dogs, Sampson likes to lie on the floor and I will lie next to him. I put my hand up to one of his paws and rest it there while I rub his ears with the other hand and he licks my face.
Oh and I also slept on a mattress on the floor for months while he recovered from ACL surgery. 🙂
Ummm…. so, I am of the belief that they DO understand what I’m saying!! True or not, it makes me feel better about my all-day-long prattle!
I would’ve done the exact same thing, slept on the mattress, too. That doesn’t seem crazy in the least to me, and I bet he was so grateful.
My first reaction was that I have nothing on the list because everything I do seems quite normal to me. (Others would disagree).
However I do have one that I’ll cop to. Ray is acknowledged as the smarter of the two dogs, so if we compliment Ray by saying he is so smart, we usually say Julius, you’re sweet (or cute) but I always lean over and whisper in Julius’s ear, “You’re smart too.” (It’s all about enhancing the self-esteem.)
Awww!!!!! That is so very sweet!!!