Mom Messed Up

I believe in routine for my dogs. I think it helps them to feel confident and safe. Besides if you ever try raising eight puppies at once without good routines, you'll go stark raving mad. So we established routines early and still keep them.

I feed my dogs about the same time each day or close to it. I feed them in the same place each time and they each know where they eat and go directly to that spot.  I feed them in the same order so no one panics thinking they might not get fed.

They go outside approximately every two hours and know that they'll be let back in. They each have a place of their own to rest and be left alone by the others, if they need it.

At bedtime we also have a routine. Around ten I take them to the garage and they form two lines on each side of the refrigerator where I keep the yogurt. They chose their positions in the lines by themselves but sit in the same place each night. I then feed them in the same order each night, and no it isn't the order of the lines. They each get three spoons of yogurt, then we walk to the back door and they go out for their last chance to pee before bed. When they come in they go their sleep places, some in crates and some in the bedroom, they each get a cookie and then it's sleep time till morning.

Our routines work well because each dog knows what to expect. Each knows where to go, where to sit and what will happen next.

A couple days ago I was having one of those days where I was out of it. All day I seemed to be moving in slow motion and felt like I wasn't fully awake all day. At bedtime I called the dogs and we went to the garage together. I walked to the back door and opened it, but only Tess was with me and she just sat down and looked at me. She wouldn't go thru the door. I looked over my shoulder and all the other dogs were sitting in lines beside the refrigerator. Oh yeah! I forgot the yogurt. I was just distracted and forgot the established routine, but they didn't.

Dogs are wonderful and smart!!!