I Love Schnauzers   My life with Schnauzers

Today is our three year blogiversary! That’s crazy! How time flies!

One thing we’ve learned in these three years is how to meld our morning routines. Neither of us is a morning person. I get up and turn on the TV then go back to bed and hit snooze 3 or 4 more times. Then it’s time to stop procrastinating and face the day. I get up and Miss D watches me. I say, “start thinking about getting up.” She cocks her head like she’s listening then heads over to claim my spot on the bed and goes back to sleep.

When I return, I say again, “start thinking about getting up.” She takes 10 minutes to do her version of yoga—frog-leg stretch, cat pose, downward dog, frog-leg, repeat. Eventually she’s ready and stands near the foot of the bed. This is my cue to lift her off the bed (with her degenerative joint disease and previous medical history, I do not want her to break a hip jumping down. This was our compromise and it works pretty well for both of us).

So I lift her off the bed and set her on her feet on the carpet runner. Then she does her morning shake, another downward dog and she’s ready to sit in the bedroom doorway and stare. I think she’s afraid of the punching bag I store in the next room. Or maybe it’s the hardwood. Either way, she waits for me to cross the threshold first, then she slips and slides across the hardwood to the back door. While I get ready for work, she runs the fence line barking at her doggie friends on the other side and waking the neighborhood.

As soon as I leave for work, she heads to her chair in the window to begin her day of guarding the house/napping. My favorite time of day though is coming home. To see her little face pop up in the window when I pull into the driveway.