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Dolly knows our routine better than we do.
My normal spring and summer routine is to get up in the morning and spend a couple of hours trying to get my body to wake up. I might get up early but I am not and never have been a morning person. The problem with this is that I am an outdoor person in spite of the fact that I held a job for 35 years that was an indoors job. Note to outdoor people; don't do what I did. It's not healthy for you and it kills your soul.
Back to the routine. Shortly after I get up Dolly usually wants a potty run. This used to involve her going to the front door and doing a single short bark. If we did not hear her she then starts with a series of short barks. If she is desperate the barks become faster and longer. She will also ignore you when you say "I'm coming Dolly."
Now that we have her on a leash she has modified her routine. Instead of going to the front door she comes out of the bedroom and gives us that 'Grin' of hers, wags her tail, then heads for the BACK door where her harness and leash is kept. The funny thing about this is the only time she goes to the front door is when she wants Richard to take her out. Rich is young but Gretchen and I are old and going out the front door causes problems for us. There are steps out there plus there is a long flight of steps that go down to the street. I don't know if Dolly goes to the back door out of consideration for us or if it's just habit.
She does not like the leash or the harness but she LOVES going on walks with her humans.
When I finally do get my body semi-awake I go outside. During my preparations for this Dolly usually watches me intently. She don't move or get excited she just watches. When I finally put my bandanna on she will head for the back door and wait for me. If I put my CAP on she gets excited. That means a long ride into town.
When I do go out I let her go without a leash because by this time the traffic has died down. We will go back in before the traffic picks up in the late afternoon. We seem to have an understanding. She is not to be in the street and she is not to be out of my sight. If she is out of my sight I will call for her. A few days ago she started barking once to let me know where she is.
She spends most of her day sleeping on a cool place after she has done her inspection rounds. When we come back in I wait for her at the door but she won't go in until she sees that I have gone in first. With her it's almost always humans first most of the time. I don't know if it's because she considers us the leaders or not. If she's excited she will go first.
Once we get in I will go set in my recliner and grab my laptop. Even though I have been going outside for a few years now and getting more exercise I still can't set at the computer desk for any length of time without being in pain. So I relax in the recliner and use a laptop. Dolly will sometimes sit down and wait for me to grab the laptop then she jumps on me, walks up my chest, and settles in on my shoulder for a long nap.
Sometimes instead of jumping on me she will go to the bedroom and rest where she can get the best breeze from the ceiling fan. I miss her when she does this. It don't seem right her not being on my shoulder.
Today I sat down and waited to see what she wanted to do. She headed for the bedroom. I wanted her on me so I called to her. I said things like "Please come here Dolly." "Come on up, yes yes yes." and other silly talk. The best I could do was get her to stop and look at me twice. Once in the bedroom I continued. I even spoke German to her. I said " Dolly ver ist du?" "I miss you"
She ignored me so I ignored her completely. A few minutes after I stopped talking to her she came out of the bedroom then sat down and looked at me with that sorrowful look. I looked at her and said " Well come on up Dolly!" Her face got that grin and she leaped up into my lap. She got on my shoulder, licked my face, and tried to settle in but could not. A few minutes later she got down and went to the bedroom. I WAS hot at the time and I think she was getting a lot of heat off me.
The guilt trip worked but only for a short time.
I don't blame her. It's much cooler where she is now. I still miss having her on my shoulder but there will be other days good Lord willing.
My normal spring and summer routine is to get up in the morning and spend a couple of hours trying to get my body to wake up. I might get up early but I am not and never have been a morning person. The problem with this is that I am an outdoor person in spite of the fact that I held a job for 35 years that was an indoors job. Note to outdoor people; don't do what I did. It's not healthy for you and it kills your soul.
Back to the routine. Shortly after I get up Dolly usually wants a potty run. This used to involve her going to the front door and doing a single short bark. If we did not hear her she then starts with a series of short barks. If she is desperate the barks become faster and longer. She will also ignore you when you say "I'm coming Dolly."
Now that we have her on a leash she has modified her routine. Instead of going to the front door she comes out of the bedroom and gives us that 'Grin' of hers, wags her tail, then heads for the BACK door where her harness and leash is kept. The funny thing about this is the only time she goes to the front door is when she wants Richard to take her out. Rich is young but Gretchen and I are old and going out the front door causes problems for us. There are steps out there plus there is a long flight of steps that go down to the street. I don't know if Dolly goes to the back door out of consideration for us or if it's just habit.
She does not like the leash or the harness but she LOVES going on walks with her humans.
When I finally do get my body semi-awake I go outside. During my preparations for this Dolly usually watches me intently. She don't move or get excited she just watches. When I finally put my bandanna on she will head for the back door and wait for me. If I put my CAP on she gets excited. That means a long ride into town.
When I do go out I let her go without a leash because by this time the traffic has died down. We will go back in before the traffic picks up in the late afternoon. We seem to have an understanding. She is not to be in the street and she is not to be out of my sight. If she is out of my sight I will call for her. A few days ago she started barking once to let me know where she is.
She spends most of her day sleeping on a cool place after she has done her inspection rounds. When we come back in I wait for her at the door but she won't go in until she sees that I have gone in first. With her it's almost always humans first most of the time. I don't know if it's because she considers us the leaders or not. If she's excited she will go first.
Once we get in I will go set in my recliner and grab my laptop. Even though I have been going outside for a few years now and getting more exercise I still can't set at the computer desk for any length of time without being in pain. So I relax in the recliner and use a laptop. Dolly will sometimes sit down and wait for me to grab the laptop then she jumps on me, walks up my chest, and settles in on my shoulder for a long nap.
Sometimes instead of jumping on me she will go to the bedroom and rest where she can get the best breeze from the ceiling fan. I miss her when she does this. It don't seem right her not being on my shoulder.
Today I sat down and waited to see what she wanted to do. She headed for the bedroom. I wanted her on me so I called to her. I said things like "Please come here Dolly." "Come on up, yes yes yes." and other silly talk. The best I could do was get her to stop and look at me twice. Once in the bedroom I continued. I even spoke German to her. I said " Dolly ver ist du?" "I miss you"
She ignored me so I ignored her completely. A few minutes after I stopped talking to her she came out of the bedroom then sat down and looked at me with that sorrowful look. I looked at her and said " Well come on up Dolly!" Her face got that grin and she leaped up into my lap. She got on my shoulder, licked my face, and tried to settle in but could not. A few minutes later she got down and went to the bedroom. I WAS hot at the time and I think she was getting a lot of heat off me.
The guilt trip worked but only for a short time.
I don't blame her. It's much cooler where she is now. I still miss having her on my shoulder but there will be other days good Lord willing.
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