The Lives of Dogs

There is the old saying that “people never know what their dogs do when they are at work”. Being a person who works from home I disagree with this statement. I really do know what my dogs do. I thought of this statement today as I watched my “pups” lounge around all day in the living room. My dogs live the good life! They have no responsibilities. They are fed promptly on time every day. They get to do what they want pretty much whenever they want. They force me and Zack to do their bidding – let them out, give them treats, get them water etc. If we don’t get them what they want they start barking at us and won’t stop until we do their bidding. Yeah – they have good lives! Everyday I spend a bunch of time petting and playing with the “boys” (i.e. Bay and Lex). After I take Zack to school I come home and immediately jump into my daily conference calls. Every day around 8:30AM or so, Bailey comes wandering out to me with a toy in his mouth. He wants me to play with him. He will be insistent and continue to nudge me with his muzzle until I give in and start playing him. Forget about the idea of ignoring him as he won’t let me. If I do ignore him there will be hell to pay as he will get pissed off and start doing something naughty. Lex on the other hand loves to go out early in the morning and bark at anything that moves or anything that makes any kind of noise. Once his barkfest is done he needs to come into the house and have some water and then retire to my bedroom for his mid-morning nap. He is so fun as he doesn’t care what anyone is doing he just wants to get upstairs and sprawl out all over my bed. After a while I will wander upstairs to visit with him and he will treat me like he is some king and I am his supplicant. He will only acknowledge me if I do something for him – like rub his ears or scratch his neck. After the morning nap and play period is over, the dogs will normally go outside with Nancy when she goes out for a cigarette. Once they come in from this excursion, they will begin to sun themselves in the living room. They each have their designated position and the order cannot be broken. Bailey must get the leather chair so that he has a great view out into the street. Lex being the younger of the two takes what could be viewed as a secondary position on the big couch. Personally I think Lex prefers this position. Though it doesn’t give him the great view of the outside – I think he loves the comfort of the soft couch. I guess what it all comes down to is that the dogs are really in charge. We people have little say as to what goes on, the pups are treating us like puppets and pulling all the strings. Yep – my dogs have the life!

(Lex on his throne in the living room.)

(Bay on the big leather chair.) On another note - something I have noted about my writing recently is that I really need to edit and re-edit each one of my blog entries. Today I went back and read through many of my blog entries that I have written throughout the last several weeks. I was mortified with what I read! I had so many missing words and incorrect words it was ridiculous. For example – I should have used “an” but instead I had and. It wasn’t that I didn’t know to us “an” it was that I was just typing so stinking fast that I screwed up. I hate when I do that! Please feel free to call me on all of my screw ups as I would love to go back and correct them. I am not asking you guys to be my editors, but just asking you to make fun of me enough that I will improve my own editing. Please be merciless in the e-mails that you send me because I need to write and edit better. The day was relatively low-key. Nothing particularly special went on during the day. Zack had school and I had work. After school Zack went to WCCK. He appeared to have a good time and he at least came home with all of his homework done. I did have one fun activity today in the fact that I spent a bunch of time IM’ing with a buddy of mine in Costa Rica – Ruben. Ruben is one of the most intellectual people I know. He always is reading at least one very intense book if not two. He has a collection of great quotes that he throws out. Including this one from today… “If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.” - Bertrand Russell. We had a great conversation and I ended up laughing my ass off. Ruben has that effect on me – he is just a great friend and a good guy. He is coming to the US (New York City) in September and hopefully I will be able to get back to the east coast to hang out with him for a couple of days. If not, I am considering doing Thanksgiving in Costa Rica this year. I am sure Zack would love that! Anyway … we hope everyone had a great day! Thanks and peace to all! 6:45AM Wednesday morning: Just thought I would add some additional commentary about the dogs. My alarms (yes - that is right plural - I need 2 alarms to get my ass out of bed) go off at 6:30AM. Once those alarms go off, the doggies know that I owe them food. It was very funny this morning as Lex decided it would be appropriate to stand on the floor right next to the bed and then jump and put his front paws on my face. Nice way to get the day started - dog paws in your face! I am used to doggie abuse in the early morning as both Lex and Bay think it is their god-given right to come up along side me and continuously nudge me with their muzzles. Though I am complaining about it here on this blog, I won't want to start my mornings any other way! Have a great Wednesday! - J