03:00
It is about 3:00 in the morning and Muffin (a golden retriever) thinks that it might be time to go out. He comes in my bedroom and licks my face. I look at the time and I know it is too early, so I just move my hand over his head trying to explain him that it is too early. Of course, he is still sleepy so he lies down expecting me to keep massaging his head. After a few massages he falls asleep. (By the way, if I stop massaging during this time he will scratch my hand and let me know that he is still awake!)
04:00 ~ 05:45
I finally wake up around 4:00 and that is my gym time. Muffin knows that very well. He is still sleepy but as I am getting ready, he makes one last attempt by making a sad face so that I would take him with me. THIS really is the saddest part of my day! I leave for the gym and he waits for me patiently. When I am at the gym, I watch him from the camera and he is happily snoring. So much for the sad face 🙄.
06:00 ~ 07:00
When I am back home he is waiting there for me. As soon as I open the door, I see a squeaky toy in his mouth and he dances around me to remind me that now is his time to go out. I get ready in my dog-park-clothes and this time as soon as I open the door he runs ahead of me towards the car. If only he could drive, he would probably just sit on the driver’s seat. It barely takes us 5 min to get to the park, but even during that time as the car gets closer to the park his level of excitement keeps going up and up! We are at the park around 6 and usually there is someone else there - one or both of his best friends Buddy or Coco. As soon as I open the door he jumps right out towards the field. His best friends love to play fetch and Muffin loves to steal the ball from them and keep it. He can have 2 balls in his mouth, so we generally carry 3 balls to play fetch so he can keep 2 in his mouth and others can play fetch with the 3rd one. Even then, he always prefers the ball in play and keeps swapping the ones he has for the ball in play. This part is extremely annoying because sometimes he stashes the balls somewhere far away. Nonetheless, this goes on for at least 30 minutes, sometimes even 45 minutes. (It used to be for more than an hour but he has slowed down now that he recently turned 5). When I start walking towards the car, he knows it is time to go home. He diligently collects all the balls in his mouth and jumps into the rear seat and drops them and then jumps out of the car expecting a treat and some water. After drinking water and treat, it is time to bid good-bye to his best friends and we drive back home!
Sometimes on the way back we stop at the store and Muffin waits patiently in the car.
07:00 ~ 08:30
We are home at around 07:00, I put some food in his bowl but he is not interested. Muffin and I both take a nap for about 30 minutes and we then finally wake up at 07:30 when my wife’s alarm goes off. I start preparing breakfast, it is usually an omlette with some guacolome, carrots, vegetables, bread and either apple or banana. Muffin sits patiently at my feet where I am cooking breakfast - he makes it as awkward as possible for me to cook. He still hasn’t touched the food in his bowl, because he wants a bite out of everything I am eating. He gets a little bit of everything that I am eating (my wife and I call it the Muffin-tax) and then finally he gets a chicken breast - now that is what he was waiting for 😋😋😋! After voraciously eating the chicken, he now reluctantly starts eating the food from his bowl. Somehow he manages to finish most of it, he always likes to leave a few pieces of the kibble. As the time approaches 8 or 8:30 depending on my schedule I begin my work from my home-office, Muffin crawls under my table and sleeps right next to my feet. Again he has to make it as awkward as possible for me to move. This is to ensure that as soon as I move he knows. Depending on the time of the year Muffin prefers sleeping alone (if it is too hot, he goes in the basement by himself), but mostly he hangs around me.
12:30 ~ 13:00
Around 12:30 I make some quick lunch, usually a smoothie or sometimes some beans and rice. At this time Muffin is not as much interested in what I am eating, he is now more interested in going in the backyard to keep an eye on his pup-dom (it is our short-hand for puppy-kingdom). He sits in the backyard, mostly just lying lazy while I finish my lunch. It is time to come inside and then go back to sleep again.
16:30 ish
Around 16:00ish Muffin comes to me to remind me that it is time to go out again. He is not in hurry, but wants to make sure that I don’t forget. As soon as I move my chair, he knows it is time to go. He stretches himself into the downward dog pose almost as if he is warming up to get out. I change into my dog-park-clothes again and we jump into the car. As was the case in the morning, Muffin’s excitement keeps increasing as we get closer to the park. The evening time at the park is social time, during this time Muffin doesn’t play ball much - of course he still steals all the balls he can - but he is more interested in meeting others (mostly humans). Sometimes it is frustrating and embarrassing when he steals the ball, I have to keep some extra balls or run to the car to make him drop the balls and then come back to the park.
After we are done at the park, we may take a trip to Home Depot to walk the aisles and spread some more cuteness.
18:00 ~ 19:30
We are usually home around this time, it is now dinner time. I have a light dinner or sometimes I skip it altogether, but Muffin needs his food. As usual the dog food is the last thing on his mind, so I give him a bully stick or something else that he can chew on and finally then he finishes his evening allotment of kibble. My wife and I watch TV and at that time Muffin sits in the living room window staring outside.
19:30
Around 19:30 ~ 20:00 it is time for him to go to bed. He pees in the backyard and then comes to me one last time for his dental chew. If we don’t have dental chew he might be lucky to get another bully stick :-). Either way, he knows this is the last treat for the day and he’s then ready to sleep. Depending on the time (temperature) of the year Muffin might go sleep in basement or sleep with us in the bedroom or might even sleep in the living room. He likes to sleep in different rooms throughout the night. He makes sure his presence is felt in the bedroom though, because every once in a while you hear the banging noise when he scratches against the baseboard. This is extremely annoying and you never get used to it, but that is what you get when you have a dog!
….. And next morning it starts all over again!
