MY DOG'S INTERNAL CLOCK

Bella the Dog and the Cheerleader

In August of 2015, the Cheerleader and I "rescued" Bella the Dog.  I say "rescued" in quotes, because, in reality, I believe Bella rescued us!

She's a fun loving, full of life, backside nub waging Boxer, who was 5 (we think) at the time we got her.  She gives the best hugs....and you know when you are in her "circle" when she gives you a hug.  Actually she hugs everyone (so I guess everyone is in her "TRIBE").....well, except the mailman.  She doesn't like the mailman much.

One thing we have found out...and maybe your dog is the same way, but she has this internal clock that is SO accurate!  

She's up at about the same time each day.

She knows, in the morning, when it's time to go into her kennel.

She has a pretty good idea about what time we get home.

She knows when her "dinner" is to be served.

But the best is at night.  Starting around 8:30 each night, we begin our evening ritual:

• Go outside and potty.....come in and get a piece of "doggy cookie."

If it gets past 8:30 and we haven't let her out yet, she come sit by your feet and look at you until you ask her if she wants to go outside.  When you ask her, she spins and takes off for the slider that leads to "cookie land."  

We go through this ritual the rest of the evening about every 30-45 min.  Not only does she have this "clock" on the inside of her, she also tries to "PLAY" us.  Remember, the reward for doing her "business" is a piece of a cookie.  She'll try to just do "air squats" thinking we won't figure it out or she'll go behind our grill where we can't see her and then appear as if to say, "I'm done!"  Reminds me so much of our kids....or even ourselves where we are trying to "fake it 'til we make it."

ALL IN ALL....I believe she uses her "clock" to show us love and get attention.  She is so full of unconditional love (remember the hugs?) that she just wants to please us.

We can learn much from our dog's actions on unconditional love and how to just know it's the right time to do stuff.  Great lessons as we navigate through our BEST YEAR YET!

FINAL NOTE:  The pic above....I believe that was "DAY 1" of training for the Cheerleader, who is doing her first 5K on April 15th!  Bella got to go out for a run (thus the tongue hanging out) with us that day and has run with us each weekend since.  If you know her, send the Cheerleader some kudos and words of encouragement leading up to the 15th!