The Morning Dance

So, the clocks fell back in Ireland last night but the three dogs that populate our house are still tuned in to Summertime.

They sleep in different rooms because they have very different personalities and preferences but once one hears me opening even one eye, the morning chorus begins.

Mornings are a magical time for me as I am the person who gets to experience the three of them greeting the day.

Puppy Stan does a special dizzying twirl when he sees me coming and sometimes I wonder if he will take up hammer throwing for the inaugural doggy Olympics. He races around the garden as if doing training laps and then whizzes into the kitchen in search of his breakfast.

Meanwhile, the flying saucer upstairs has leapt from his bed and tears down the stairs like a man on a mission. He’s the fluffy mixum-gatherum one who is totally besotted with son.

Last,but very much not least, is the gentle hound, who always catches my eye with a look of gratitude before he dashes towards the garden and a reunion with the fluffy one. They have their garden haunts to check out and then when they see me arriving with breakfast, the gentle hound looks up at me and eyes a ‘thank you’ before he even glances at his dish.

When I let that pair in again, the fluffy one plays games trying to ensure that he his reunited with son ASAP.

The gentle hound always manages to find a bit of my bare flesh and kisses me with his wet nose. I so love him for his sweet gestures.

They are all quiet now but their contentment is nothing to mine after this life-enhancing show of love, appreciation and sheer exuberance through such different doggy personalities.