Are they creatures of Habit?
Mine are fed at a certain time of day and if I have been out or am late they certainly let me know that it is well overdue DINNER TIME!! makes me laugh at the antics and foot stomping on the floor to tell me "EH MOM WHERE'S OUR TUCKER!!" Bed time the same, they actually put themselves away onto their beds if we decide to stay up later then normal.  Very hard to get them to potty if they put themselves to bed, it is like OK we are settled for the night so "DO NOT DISTURB!!!"
Same with getting out of bed in the mornings, no sleep in, as sheepie girls wake me and say "EH TIME TO GET UP" start of a new day and time for a romp outside then breakfast. Meanwhile all the men in this household on a weekend are still in bed snoozing their heads off. 
Anyone else's sheepies creatures of Habit? 
Ooops time to go, yes sheepie girls are doing there usual prance and foot stomping to tell me it's dinner time |
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| Hi Lisa,
Yup, my boys are definately creatures of habit too. I'm forever complaining on here that Old Blue never has learned the meaning of "its Sat or Sunday and no need for me to get up at 6:30". Groan! In the mornings all my boys never attempt to follow me down the stairs, but it's a different story after 3pm when it's our usual start of walks. My boots drive them crazy..as for months that's my usual footwear on our walks to the woods or offleash parks. My backpack..aka doggie bag sends them all into a frenzy too. My friend has a hilarious story which I said I'd post here one day. She told me about her dog Cooper and how if "Dad" puts on dark socks..Cooper remains calm. Different story if "Dad" puts on white socks..this drives him in a frenzy. They figured out that Cooper knew that dark socks meant work days and white socks..wheeee Dad's day off and less formal clothes. Lisa your post had me chuckling in several places..especially the "Hey where's my dinner?". Marianne and the boys |
| Such cute antics! Mine don't seem to be like that. They are constantly watching me to try and see what my next move will be -- are we going upstairs, down to the tv, out for a walk, into the office? Once they see whatever it is that triggers them, then charge off in that direction, but always with a half look back to see if they got it right.
I definitely don't let them tell me when to wake up. I d on't even let an alarm clock tell me when to wake up. I like to get up when my body says so. Maggie tried initially to wake me, and I would just leave her in her crate and go to the guestroom to fall back asleep. Now she's quiet til I let her out. I love that they put themselves to bed. Mine just look at me desperately, like isn't it time yet, please?? Same for dinner, too, really. I love that yours are so opinionated. Such characters. |
Quote: Meanwhile all the men in this household on a weekend are still in bed snoozing their heads off.
The four men in my household are fast asleep right now, at 7:30 AM. Meanwhile, guess what I've done already? Poooches are up, fed, pottied. Dixie's had her meds and now I need to clean Bosley's eye. Oh yeah, I ate a banana, got a load of laundry ready and the dish-washer is full and running..... 
And of cource I've checked my email and am on OES.org forun...  |
| Mine seem to have a routine for going to bed and getting up... but other than that they just watch to see what I'm doing and I think they recognize a particular pattern (like putting dress shoes on means going to work, and they don't get overly excited about that, but putting on running shoes means not going to work and it might mean tim hortons drive through and a timbit for them! LOL)
I'm up early today because I had to drive hubby to work for an early conference call and then a meeting. I would love to sleep in, but the dogs aren't fond of that idea anyway. |
| walter seems to go with the flow... when my parents are out of town and im the only one around he has no problem sleeping in and waiting for me to take him out. he has a bladder of steel and loooovveees sleep, so i am a lucky girl! |
| All of our dogs shift with our routine. During the week they get up with us for work but on weekends, they don't get up until 11:30 or noon, although Bear starts jumping on the bed around 11:30. Lucy's so set in her routine that after we go to work, she takes her spot on the couch so, on the weekend, she's always on the couch when we come downstairs around noon-- she's on that couch from 8 a.m. until noon no matter what day it is! |
| Creatures of habit?? Oh yeah.
Crumpet would put herself to bed if we decided to stay up late. Then every 15 minutes or so she'd peek around the corner, "Are you coming to bed?" Yesterday I arrived home around noon from Phoenix. I settled into my "sleeping" chair, but at doggie dinner time I felt the huffy-puffy breath on my feet. "Mom, it's dinner time." If I even touch my purse or keys, Jack lets himself into the garage and into his pen and starts barking. For whenever I leave I have to pen him to get the car out of the garage. When my husband feeds the dogs in the a.m. all come to me (I'm trying to sleep late), Simone jumps onto the bed and starts licking my lips (bleech!) while the others stand around and huffy-puffy. Why? So I'll get up and given each of them a dog cookie! Doesn't matter if my husband has already passed out a cookie to each.......Mom has to do it too. Many more stories.........so who has whom trained?? susan |
SheepieBoss wrote: .........so who has whom trained??
Mmmmm thinking about that one........., YEP!!, they have me trained perfectly |
| An old man once told me: "You own a dog for 6 month, from then he owns you!"
When they hear the garage door opening they come running, expecting to go for a walk. If I drop the tailgate on the truck, that means they are going for a ride. At 5am they wake me up; I don't know why I even bother with an alarm. For them: "Lets go to work" means they get to practice their skills for CDX: Holding a dumbell, dropping on down, practicing the high jump and broad jump. (Quality time with daddy!). "How 'bout a brushin" and Maggie jumps up on the grooming table before Barney can get up there. Etc., Etc., Etc.  |
| Hi Again,
Sheesh can't believe I forgot to add this as it was the reason I knew right away something was wrong when I arrived home Monday. As soon as I place my key in the lock...Merlin sticks his big nose in the cat door to greet my homecoming. He failed to do that on Monday and I knew immediately something was wrong. Causing me to race into the house searching for him. So good thing he is a creature of habit as in my exhausted state I might have entered and laid down not realizing he wasn't in the house. Anyhow it's kinda funny how our boys and girls seem to know our habits and how footwear can give them clues as to our intentions. I keep all leashes now in a backpack as the sound of them tinkling would drive the boys crazy and they would run around and bark in anticipation of their walks. That didn't last long however, as now they cued in that the certain backpack is what I take on our walks and contains their leashes. LOL! Marianne and the boys |
| I have to say that there are a few things that Walter does out of habit, but for the most part, he's a very flixible pup. I like to think of him as a big hippie - he's just chill with whatever, wherever.
Me personally, I have no consistent routines in my day/life, so Walter just kinda follows along. We've gone out of town several times (with him) and he just finds a place to make himself comfortable - does the necessary exploring and then just chills out. I think if I had any sort of "normal" routine in my life, he'd be more like everyone else's dog, but I don't, so there we go! Ha! |
| About 15 minutes before the alarm goes off, the monster hop on the bed for morning cuddle. They have assigned themselves cuddle positions and never vary - one draped over the feet, one at my back and one at my front. On weekends, they let us sleep a bit later. It took years for us to figure out that they paid attention to the heat or air conditioning coming on in the morning (set back thermostat).
The morning routine starts out with the kids going out front with my husband to get the paper. They are calm until all the leashes are on, then they yip with excitement. After coming inside and getting their leashes off, they run to the back door to go do their business. When they come back in, they get breakfast. One of themIf I sleep in, she will wait for me to give the okay. won't eat until she tracks me down and I tell her it okay. |
| I think like kids...to dogs routine is very important. I think they feel secure having some sense of what is about to happen. Hey! I like routine too! |
Anonymous wrote: About 15 minutes before the alarm goes off, the monster hop on the bed for morning cuddle.
That's funny, mine do that too but it's usually when they sense us stirring in the morning. Other than that, we don't have set times when we do our routine, and I guess that's good & bad. The get dinner sometime btw 5-7pm and do get a little antsy around that time but it's easy to get them to calm down. Same with the mornings. We could easily sleep until noon without them bugging us. |
| We are not time-regimented at our house either - we work varied shifts and the dogs we have had since puppyhood are used to it. Last year when we adopted Simon, the basset, things changed. He was very obviously used to a more structured day. If he isn't fed by mid-afternoon, he starts in with pacing, whining, then barking. Same thing at bedtime. He sleeps on the couch or loveseat and is ready for bed between 8:30-9:00 pm. If we are up and all the couches are full, he starts in with the routine. It took a little bit to figure out what he wanted, but now we just laugh and give in to him. I'm sure the rest of the dogs appreciate the food time warning he starts. |
| mmmmm kinda - Ollie does seem to know what Sat/Sun means, well we get an extra 1.5 hrs in bed - bliss.
Ollie always goes for his evening walk around 8ish - after Eastenders for any Brit reading this !! LOL and at 5 to 8 he's pacing and bumping me then the barking starts |
| Willoughby and the cats form a team. They have a recognizable program to monitor my AM/PM routines. The pecking order is Edwina (Maine Coone and senior cat in charge of surveillance) Percival (dsh: trainee) and Willoughby ( Security Chief in training). He has a long way to go! They watch each other,especially at mealtimes. Percy forgets his rank and attacks Edwina, both of them rolling on the floor while Willoughby watches the action, knowing that breakfast or supper is on the way.
I try to distinguish weekends for W. by giving him toast and peanut butter at lunch on Sat/Sun. I'm allowed to sleep in by 1/2 hour! As soon as my key is in the lock on workdays, Willoughby squeaks. While I'm hugging W. the cats appear with various meows which I interpret as a brief overview of the day. In the AM, Willoughby and the cats remind me to get up: the cats by meowing and walking around on the bed and W. by trying to hop into it. If I don't go to bed at the same time everynight, they stand in front of me but give up if I persist and go to sleep in the lving room: W. on the floor wedged between the sofa and coffee table, P. on a chair by the fireplace and E. on the arm of the sofa next to me so she can watch the other two if needed. When I'm away from home, I 'm lost without my team! Lynda |
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