Don't Mess With Sadie's Schedule

I love my dogs. I cannot believe the life they bring to our home. I love them both, but I am especially attached to Sadie because we got her first at 6 weeks old. She is my baby. We got Polly our other dog, her sister, when she was 9 months old. The family that had originally adopted her decided that she was too big for their kids and they were neglecting her because of it. When they had decided that they were going to take Polly to the pound we told them that we would gladly take her. I laugh at that family who really missed out on a gentle loving dog. Polly is the friendliest loving animal I have ever known. She has also made a great buddy for Sadie. It is funny how these two dogs, both born in the same litter, have such different personalities. Polly is our couch potato. If she had a voice we think she would talk like Eyore from Winnie the Pooh. She is slow and all she wants is to eat and cuddle. Sadie on the other hand is complete opposite. She is very smart and very active and very loyal. And she has a schedule and she is not going to be swayed away from the schedule. Each morning at 5:45 when my alarm clock goes off Sadie comes to the side of my bed. She rests her head on the bed and waits for me to pull the covers back. As soon as I sit up Sadie walks to the doorway of my room and waits for me to walk to the back door so she can go out. (Polly comes to but not until I call her to come.) When she is finished outside she will go to the door and wait for me to let her back in. If I take too long she will bark to let me know she is waiting. When they come back in Polly goes back into the room or wherever and goes back to sleep. Sadie follows me to the bathroom and sits on the bath mat while I shower. After my shower she follows me to the bedroom to get dressed and asks permission to get on the bed by sitting next to it and placing her paw on the bed. There she waits while I get dressed. Once I am dressed I go into Ashlee's bathroom to do my hair and makeup. (We share everything so it is just easier) Sadie follows me in there and says good morning to Ashlee the same way everyday, by squeezing through her legs. When I am ready Sadie follows me to the door where I have to apologize for leaving her for seminary and tell her I will be home soon for ball. As I walk out she runs to the window where she watches me leave and waits for my return. We have very low windows in our house and Sadie can lay on the floor next to them and rest her head on the window sill. This is where she waits each day for our return. We have a friend in our ward who works for a medical delivery company and each day he delivers in our neighborhood. He says that Sadie is there with her head resting on the window sill everyday. When I return home I pull half way into the driveway. Sadie will look up at me and then when I wave she runs to the back of the house and waits for me to pull into the garage and come in. When I walk in she sits down and wants to hold hands. Then she will ask permission to play ball by staring at me until I pay attention to her. I will ask her what she wants and she will circle a few times. Then I ask her to show me and she will run to the hall closet where her ball is. SHE LOVES BALL!! and will play until she is so tired that she can't run anymore. At night she sits next to my chair when I prepare my seminary lesson. She is such a great dog. I read an article the other day that claimed that dogs don't understand words, they only understand voice tone. Well I am here to tell you that is false. Sadie understands so many words that we have to spell in our house. So that she doesn't get excited. We are not allowed to say Go, Letter, Ball, Swimming, Park, Car, or Outside unless we are planning to include her. She also knows exactly who "The Girl" (Ashlee) is and when we don't want to have to get up to get her something or take her to play ball we tell her to go ask "The Girl" and she will run into Ashlee's room and ask. I love Sadie so much that I tease Ashlee and have told her that if our house burns down she better find a way out cuz I'm saving the Dog. :)