I'm up before the dawn. I have to be. If not, my furry alarm clock is there at 6am with her head on the mattress wagging her tail and thereby shaking the bed.
This morning, I did manage to get up before all of that. This being Friday, I grabbed all the "Dog Mats" and threw them into the washer. Super-Hot to kill the things that may get into them after having a 47 pound Border Collie lay on them all week. I also tossed a few other odds and ends into the washer, slammed the door, pressed the start button and walked away.
We went out for our dog walk around town shortly there after. She had her food, and I grabbed the old time radio show that I had been listening to on the MP3 player and we went outside.
No, not an i-thing, a real honest to goodness player from *gasp* Sansa!
After doing a lap around town and wandering around with me following her with a plastic bag, we got home. I put the player down, started the morning routine. Within 15 minutes my mind shifted from following the dog to warming biscuits, roasting coffee, making Iced Tea, boiling water, making coffee, grinding coffee, warming a chicken pattie, and emptying the sink of last nights detritus.
All the while I was being watched. Two brown eyes with occasional flashes of gold from the ceiling lights.
I finished breakfast while waiting for the coffee to brew in the pot, stirring occasionally, and managed to get all of the grounds put away.
Still watched.
Thinking that she was needing attention, I pet her black head gently then reached into the freezer for an ice cube, and returned to stirring the coffee and the iced tea.
She finished her ice cube, wandered out, and back. Sat down and watched.
About the time that the coffee was ready to be poured, the washer beeped for attention. I put the mats into the dryer, pressed start and walked back outside to the kitchen.
I was able to gather everything up and walk to the big green chair, start the little HP laptop and chug through the beginning of the morning job search routine. 179 web pages, opened in tabs, in five browsers. Tomorrow being Saturday, that count doubles with the weekly search.
Getting through the first set of 35 pages, I was watched the entire time. I'm wondering why she managed to squeeze her nose in between my left leg and the chair. Now the toys begin. First the Rattling Cat was dropped on my left foot. This was followed by the squeaky plush cat.
I bent down grabbed the cat and shook it and flung it out to the room.
Lettie chased it, and I am wondering what has gotten into her?
Going back to the search, I manage to get to the second 35 pages. She's now got a pile of toys at my feet as I am shaking things and tossing them out for her to fetch.
I got up and made mug number two of coffee.
It was this time where my morning haze shook off. We've been home for around an hour. The first mug of coffee kicked in, now we're alert.
The Dryer beeped. It was only now that I realize why Mrs Dog was trying to get my attention. There were no dog mats for her to sleep on and watch me from afar. She had put herself down before on the floor and that was normal but less preferred.
I grabbed the dog mats from the dryer, walked them into the bedroom, and set them on the bed while laying one swiss-rolled towel down for her to use. One paw on the end of the roll, she triumphantly unrolls it out with the other front paw and plops herself down.
Just as the water for the second mug of coffee is whistling in the tea kettle, I walk out to plop a tightly folded mat next to the bouncy chair for her to figure out how to make herself comfortable.
I guess all of this is Problem Solving in a Border Collie. The problem was the human forgetting. After all, it was 6AM when the mats hit the washer, almost 8 when they were done, and 9 by the time I realized what was going on. But anyone who thinks that there is such a thing as a dumb animal has never gotten in the way of a border collie's routine or never walked back into the house after a short spell to be greeted by a parrot's chatter saying hello, loudly, repeatedly.
I'm still picking up the toys. I'll have to move the Kong since they're in dog's view. If not, I had better be ready to put some peanut butter and a cookie in there. If not, we're going to have them dropped on my left foot again.
Over and over. And then I'll be stared at. Always the staring...
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