My mom called me Sunday night in a fluster. “I can’t talk, but turn on channel 2…you’ll want to see this skateboarding bulldog!” Then, she pretty much hung up on me.
Being in different locations and networks, I located “Dogs in the City” and tuned in. There was this adorable, all too appropriately named bulldog, Beefy. And Beefy had separation anxiety when it came to his owner and daddy. Sounds familiar.
I know dogs are like humans and they get into their little routines.
My morning starts off by stumbling down the stairs, turning on the espresso machine, and walking over to Lily’s bed to give her pets and tell her, “Good morning, Lily!” Yes, I say it out loud. She gets up, wiggles her butt (well, she kind of wiggles everything), and stretches. She usually eats breakfast, but sometimes, believe it or not, she’ll go on a hunger strike and give up food completely… sometimes for days on end. This may or may not have to do with the amount of table scraps she receives…ahem. Anyways.
I make my morning latte and Lily gets some peanut butter to lick out of her bone. It is fair to say that these are our morning vices. I try to get my blog post up and start plowing through emails. She generally has her bone licked clean within minutes and I am down to one hand typing, and one hand giving her a full body rub-down.
It’s a rough life being a bulldog, let me tell you.
I get ready for work and Lily usually settles in for nap #1 of the day. She generally gets up to beg me to go to daycare, even though she knows she’s only likely to go mid-week. I tell her if it’s going to be a short day (i.e. I’m teaching), or if it’ll be a long day (I’m at my unit) and I tell her, out loud, “Have a good day, pretty girl…see you later!”
When I get home from work, she’s waiting for me at the back door. I put down my stuff and we go out to get the mail. Often times, our neighbor is out and she kisses every square inch of his face and he loves it. She loves it. Sometimes they wrestle. It’s pretty darn cute. I not-so-secretly hope our new neighbors love her just as much.
If the weather is nice, we either play soccer in the backyard or go for a walk. Usually soccer since Lily doesn’t like to walk unless Mr. Prevention tags along. After I wear her out a bit, I either workout or start dinner. During dinner-making, she is usually sitting in my very small kitchen with one leg straight out in front of her. We call this the “chicken leg”, sitting like a “Buddah”, or her “ninja kick”. It’s very cute, but very inconvenient. If I’m making chicken or salmon for dinner, she begs all the more, staring me down with every move I make.
When I photograph meals, she’s always…in…the…way. It’s food. Generally on the floor. And while she sometimes gets close, she never partakes. I can leave a whole chicken on the floor and head upstairs to grab a prop or something for my “photoshoot” and she will leave the food alone if she’s told to. She’s very well-behaved…but often ends up in my shots. At least a foot or whisker or something.
During dinner, she’s good about not begging. Perhaps she knows I’m good for a few scraps? I’m such a softie.
Night time is time for cuddles. She actually understands that the word “cuddles” means she and I on the floor together with a blanket. By 8:30pm she’s generally toast for the day and she settles in for the night. I can generally peel away from her after that time to get some photo editing or grading accomplished. Or to maybe sit on the sofa where humans belong.
We head up for bed around 10pm and by this time, she’s generally snoring up a storm. If she hasn’t been out to the bathroom in awhile, it’s a good 5 minute ordeal to get her up and out. Mr. Prevention and I actually try to beat one another to bed so we don’t get stuck with Lily’s shenanigans. She’s like a stubborn teenager on a Monday morning by this point in the day, especially if it’s a day she’s been at daycare.
Yes, she’s spoiled. Really spoiled. And humanized. I’m okay with all of this.
But the thing I love and adore about dogs is that no matter what kind of a day I’ve had, she makes it so much brighter. Plus, Lily is really, really smart and even though she doesn’t talk back, I truly believe she understands most everything I say to her.
She’s a great traveler and very good with children and other dogs. She doesn’t have a mean streak in her body. Our realtor actually came to take photos for our listing while we were at work and never having had anyone come in the house without us home before, I was curious to see how Lily reacted. According to our realtor, Lily carried a “baby” (i.e. a toy) from room-to-room helping to give her the grand tour of the house. When she needed a picture of a room and Lily out of the way, she’d throw the toy the opposite direction for Lily to fetch. It was very cute to hear 🙂
Food blogging and living life with a Lily dog!
Be well,
I tell my dog that I love him out loud every morning when I leave for work!
I don’t have a dog, but my cat is very spoiled. Every morning at the same time, weekend or weekday, Riley meows up a storm, even crying until I get up, hug him and feed him. He’ll take a couple bites, and if anyone else is sleeping, he’ll go wake them up. When one person is out of the bed, everyone has to be up and about too. Another thing, that is sometimes annoying but cute at the same time, when he eats he requires me to rub his back. If I stop, 2 minutes later he’ll be at my feet looking up at me meowing (crying) for a back rub. . . as soon as I stand up, he’s running to his bowl and looking back to make sure I’m following. He does this 6-8 times a morning until there’s not a scrap of food left in his bowl. I have no idea how this started. I feed him 2x’s a day, and it’s the same both times!
That’s only one of his “habits” and he keeps accumulating more as he grows. . . he’s only 1 1/2 old. Even so, I wouldn’t trade him for the world. =) Great lil Guy to have around!
Author
Jessen: This story made my day – thank you! I have to have my mom read this – she needs to see I’m not the only crazy animal lover out there who would do anything for my pet, including, but not limited to, completely scheduling my day around them!
I actually read this post at 5:00 a.m. this morning – because our dog barked to be let out at that hour! But I agree, they do make your life richer! Love Lily! 😀
Author
Oh, Ed 🙂 What a guy! 😉
I love Lily – she is so freaking adorable.
Lexie hunger strikes too, but she does it because she’s an emotional eater (I really wish I was kidding). If she’s sad or upset about anything, she wont eat and her stomach starts making awful hunger noises. I have to pat her, and tell her what a good girl she is repeatedly to get her to start eating again.
Author
Too cute. I want to meet Lexie almost as I want to meet you! 🙂
I loved it the first time and loved it again!!
Wow, you take all your pictures on the floor? I guess I’m lucky I have my own little area 🙂 My pup is my baby, and definitely just a liiiitle spoiled. I fed him what we ate … he didn’t really eat that much kibble .. up until about a week ago because he has terrible stomach problems (just like me!). I just couldn’t bear how sick he would get! Gas, puking, it was terrible. Now I have him on a raw food diet and so far it is going good! I hope Lily doesn’t have any problems like that!
Author
Most all of them, yep! Lily has a strong stomach & no stomach issues, but I will knock on wood! 😉
Hi! I’m a new reader to your site and have been bookmarking tons of recipes. Thanks so much for sharing so many yummy and healthy recipes.
Lily is adorable! I don’t have dogs, but I’ve got three cats and they are spoiled rotten as well. 🙂 Pets in general are so wonderful and I love coming home to my babies at the end of the day.
Good luck with your move! I am from the Columbus area as well so I thought it was cool to see that you were a local blogger – at least for a while!
Thanks again for sharing great recipes and cute doggy pix. 🙂
Author
Ruchita: Thank you so much for your sweet note! I love hearing from “local” people 🙂 I would have a cat or 2 if my dad weren’t deathly allergic…but he’d never be able to come visit 🙁 I hope you find some recipes you love….all my best!
Aww, I just love Lily!!
She is too adorable!! My cats always like to hang out when I’m taking food pictures too. But they don’t understand as well they can’t interrupt. 😉
I should teach my dog to skateboard.
Author
It’s on my to-do list, too!
Thank you for sharing! I am a fan of both your blog and of Lily! My dog is also very spoiled and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Reading your post reminded me so much of our day-only my dog is a lab and he would never miss a meal 😉
Hello~ so I am checking out your site for some yummy recipes when I stumble up Lily. OMG I read your post as if I were writing it myself lol… I too have a 5 year old bulldog “Boris” same color as lily, he is our world and our world sadly revolves around him lol… I work from home and talk out loud to him all day long. I never really fully understood the saying “Dog, a mans best friend” until I brought Boris home and we too have been know to schedule our days around him, more times than not. I don’t admit that to just anyone lol… Unconditional love, he can make me laugh on my worst of days. thank you for sharing your story. You are so not alone, there are alot of us crazy animal lovers lol….