So tomorrow is Monday and back to work. I spent another Sunday cleaning prints off the mirrored closet doors in the bedroom about a foot from the ground. Did you ever wonder what your dog is doing all day while you work?? (O.K.-too much time on my hands!)

I know their routine on the weekends when I’m home with them. Get up, go out, have a treat because we went out, eat breakfast, alternate napping on the sofa, the bed, and the floor, go out again, have another treat because we went out again! Angel watches out the window in the bedroom from her prone position on the bed and she will bark loudly if any person or animal is in view within a twelve foot perimeter of “her” area. If she sounds serious, Wishbone will jump up and come to her aid with a volley of barks!! (It’s good to know someone has your back!!) So it is obvious that they are “on the job” seven days a week as “security”!! Or are they? I started to wonder, “Do they really guard the house like this when I am at work or are they just working weekends because the BOSS is watching”? This would not be the first dog we have owned who tried to fool me into believing he was a watchdog. My daughter had a dog when she was a little girl who barked at the door when someone came in (at least he did when we were home.) But when we came home he would peek around from behind something to see who was coming in and THEN would start to bark when he saw that it was us!!! (Yeah! I’m guarding the house!!! Whew! I’m glad that’s not a burglar!!!!)

So what are they really up to while I am at work and what are those noseprints all about?? Are they having other dogs over for wild parties?? Are they making out with their own reflections??? Are they wondering if Timmy fell in the well again???? I’m pretty sure I have figured out where those noseprints are coming from.

Angel is a little (o.k. more than a little) overweight. She has been called (by her vet mind you) a cylinder. Now don’t get me wrong, I am beginning to develop a bit of a “cylinder” around my middle. But I (unlike Angel) am bothered by it. She is not in the least upset about being a cylinder. THAT IS THE LOOK SHE WAS GOING FOR!!!!! So I know that she is admiring herself in that mirror everyday! She is prancing and turning and looking over her shoulder to check out her backside and she is saying to Wishbone, “Does this fur coat make my butt look big?” Wishbone,on the other hand, is so hyper that he burns his calories off. But I know that he is looking in the mirror and admiring his muscular physique. He is posturing like a bodybuilder and saying to Angel, “Check out my pecs and my six pack!” And that is where the noseprints on the mirrors are coming from!! I’m sure I am not the ONLY person not there with vain dogs.!!!!

Sometimes, I wish I could be a little more like my dogs. They don’t struggle with their self image, they don’t compare themselves unfavorably to other dogs, they don’t wonder what their purpose in life is, they aren’t embarrassed when they miss the bed on the first jump, and they certainly don’t worry about how they look (except when my daughter buys them some silly jacket or Santa hat and takes their picture in it)!!!

Maybe we could all take a few lessons from our dogs in letting go of life’s worries and frustrations and just learn to enjoy the simple pleasures in life; a warm breeze, a peaceful nap, a good meal, a loving pat on the head, or a good belly rub!!! Dogs instinctively know that life is too short to be taken so seriously!!!!