Sunday mornings

Today started like most of my Sunday mornings have for most of the last 13 years.  Even in a dead sleep I can feel it-The Stare.  Imke standing in the doorway of the bedroom, usually right around 7am, quietly staring at me.  I'm sure many of you who have dogs, or children for that matter, you know what I am talking about.  Even though I'm sound asleep, I can feel her looking at me and just moments before the whine starts, I am awake. Sunday is the one day of the week I can sleep in, with no commitments and no need for an alarm clock.  But there she is, my brown-spotty, shorthaired, four-legged, whining alarm clock, letting me know it's time for breakfast.  So I am out of bed and off to feed the hungry masses, Imke trailing behind me.

At this point in time, I have a foster, which isn't always the case, and Julia is enthusiastic about every meal.  She twirls and twists and barks with joy, her stubby little tail wagging one hundred miles an hour as I prepare her dish.  Maddie has become my lazy bum, never in a hurry to get out of bed; always happy to spend a little more time snuggled up under the covers.  She will not move until she hears the clang of the food hitting her dish.  And Imke, she has a routine which hasn't changed much over the years.  She'll follow me to the closet, then grab a toy from the toy basket, and off she'll go, toy in her mouth, to pace and circle her dish until it is full.  Everyone must sit and stay nicely until I release them to eat, but Imke always tries to stretch her neck forward in hopes of getting one little nibble before I say it's okay.  She's older now, so I allow it.

Once they have finished breakfast, it's outside for a potty break and a good sniff around the yard.  It's outside and right back in for Maddie and then right back to bed where she can establish herself in the prime spot -right in the middle of the bed-for some quality snuggle time.  Imke and Julia take a little more time outside with Julia zooming around the yard while Imke searches for the prime sniffing spots.  Eventually everyone is back inside for a good bout of snuggling.  Even though Maddie is sure she's gotten the best spot in the bed to be closest to me, without fail, Imke will find a way to burrow under the covers and shove her 70 pounds body between me and Maddie because she must be closest to mom with her chin resting somewhere on my leg, always.

The snuggling time varies each week, depending on the weather, the amount of exercise they got the day before, the ever changing moods and demands of a German Shorthaired Pointer, but in most cases it ends long before I'm ready.  Then it's time for them to get back outside to enjoy the day.  With 2-3 dogs in the house it can be a never-ending game of in and out, but then there are mornings like today, when they decide that outside is much more fun than inside.  Those days are generally sunny, warmer, and involve lots of squirrel "hunting".  Imke and Julia spotted him first this morning, running across the electric lines in the backyard wagging his tail and causing them much anguish.  There is much barking and tail-wagging and running around the yard and then once he's out of sight, they will sit quietly at the fence for 30 minutes or more just staring off into the yards around us awaiting his reappearance.

I love those mornings.  Making my breakfast as I watch them flit about the yard, running, sniffing, playing.  They are so full of joy and so full of life in those moments.  They have not a care in the world, well, other than getting that darn squirrel! Makes me wish we could all have simpler lives, like they have.

After spending a good 45 minutes outside this morning, they all came back in and were given a special treat that I knew would keep each of the occupied while I took some time to relax and read.  Maddie finished first and climbed back up on the bed with me to get some one on one time while the others were  still occupied.  It was a wonderful, peaceful, enjoyable morning, but the quiet never lasts long when you have a GSP in your house.  But that's what I love about them most, there is never a dull moment!

The sun is shining and it is barefoot, short-sleeve weather in Mid-February here in Mid-Michigan, so it was back outside with me following right behind them.  Time to take a lesson from my dogs and sniff the fresh air, breath in all of the smells of the beautiful world around me and soak up the sun!

After a week of work and responsibility and commitments, it is just nice to take some time to enjoy the simple things in life.  Happy Sunday!