Feeding The Dogs Essay, Research Paper

At 8:00AM each morning, my alarm clock sounds. This is my signal to wake up and begin the morning rituals. Rituals such as making the bed, cooking breakfast, or bathing my son can be done in any order that pleases me. On the other hand, the dogs must always be fed first. If I don’t feed the dogs first, they will begin barking and scratching on the back door in disapproval as soon as they hear sounds of life inside the house. So when the alarm clock sounds, I get out of bed and feed those starving babies. With my eyes still closed, I swing my legs off the bed and slide my feet into the slippers that are lying on the floor. I then make my way to the back door. By the time I get to the door, I must open my eyes so I can find the doorknob. Not quite prepared for the mauling that I will surely receive when the dogs see me, I open the door. Not wanting to disappoint me, they immediately attack with hugs and kisses. I’m wide awake now. My dogs get along perfect at all times, except feeding time, so the first order of business is to separate them. (If this is not done, they will undoubtedly try to eat eachother for breakfast.) While standing on the back porch, I take Arctic by her coller, and then I lead her to the dog run. All the while, she is looking at me as if to say, “No! It’s HIS turn to be locked up! Don’t make me go in there! Pleeeaaase don’t make me!” With Arctic securely locked inside the dog run, Pooh Bear is on the other side of the chainlink wagging “Na na na boo boo’s” at her with his tail. The next step is to get the bowls and fill them with dog food. I meander over to the shed that is located next to the dog run and gather the dog food and two large feeding bowls from inside. It’s too hot inside the shed to do the pouring there, so I fill the bowls in the yard. Once I’ve filled the bowls, it is important that I put the bag of dog food back into the shed. (Not doing so will result in a paper shredding party that I will have to clean up after when I get home.)

Since Arctic is in the dog run, she gets her bowl of food first. Keeping her from escaping jail while I try to get her food in to her can be quite tricky. With the bowls stacked on top of eachother under my left arm, I trip the latch on the gate with my free hand. Once the latch is tripped, I must push the gate open, throw one of the bowls on the ground, and quickly shut the gate before the prisoner makes a run for it. (This is an art that can be mastered with practice.) Now it’s Pooh Bear’s turn to be fed. This is the simplest step of all. With Pooh following beside me, I carry his bowl to the area beside the back porch and place it on the ground next to his water bowl. Once I’ve done this, he shakes his tail vigorously in approval and begins feasting. As the final step, I fill the water bowls. I turn on the faucet that is located at the back of the house, and I drag the water hose that is attached to it to each bowl that needs filling. I can always count on getting my pajamas wet during this process. After I’ve filled each bowl, I coil the waterhose next to the faucet, and I’m done. With the routine complete, I’m ready to go back inside the house and wash away the remnants of doggy hugs and kisses. I glance back at my babies before closing the door behind me, and I see that they are happily snacking away at their breakfast. Just the sight of them gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. If I didn’t have other things to do, I would let them lavish me with love for the rest of the day.