From The Desk of The Dog: A Day In My Life

Hello everyone!  It's Runtly, the ever so entertaining Jack Russell Terrier, JRT, for short!  Since I just love people, I want to help them!  Mom says everyone is tired of being cooped up and maybe it would be a good idea for me to share what a day is like for me, to help cheer them up.  

Humans don't understand that a day in the life of a dog, is like the best day ever.  Every morning we get to do it over again!  I do like to change my routine up every now and then, just to make it more fun!

Each morning, I get up and ask politely to go outside.  Living in the country versus the city is WAY better, in my most humble opinion.  Mom says there is nothing humble, or polite, about me and to get back to the story.  Anyways, I go outside and the very first thing I do is check for mice.  See, I have become a great mouser!  One day I found one in the bench on the front porch and I caught him!  So, from now on, that is my first course of business, checking that bench.  Then, I move on to the front steps and do the most wonderful thing......I sniff the air.  It's amazing what a snoot full of fresh morning air can tell a dog about his kingdom.  Then I bark.  Sometimes I just bark bark and other times, depending on the information from the sniff report, I barkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbark, until the entire forest is awake.  It's fun helping out my fellow creatures.

Usually by this time, my giant German Shepard buddy, Max, knows I'm up and he comes to great me.  We have a few sniffs, size each other up, wag tails and go about our other business.  We also make sure we try to out perform each other when it comes to marking our territory.  This sometimes mean I might end up getting wet.  But, all in good fun.

Then, I go back into the house, get a snack and maybe a drink and take a nap.  Naps are an essential part of dog's life.  Humans need to take more naps.  When Mom and Dad are done with breakfast I wait, oh so patiently, to see if they left me any scraps.  Believe me, bacon and egg sammich day is way better than cereal day.  After breakfast, it's time to chase the birds.  Mom feeds the birds.  I don't like that because I don't like Mom to feed anybody but me.  I must admit though, she has a ton of birds and even a few squirrels and I can make them scatter like stuffing out of a new toy!  Then, I bark some more.  Then, I takes me another nap.

When Mom lets me, we go for a walk into the woods.  Mom stays on the trail, but not me!  I run through the brush and go way down the hill to were the water is.  I don't get in the water but every once in awhile, there's a turtle along the edge.  Guess what I do to him?  I bark at him!!  It's so exciting.  Then when we get back to the house, I find a spot in the sun and take a rest.  Resting outside does not count as a nap because there's too much goin' on to be really asleep.

When the weather is nice, I stay outside with Mom and Dad just about all afternoon.  Now that I'm becoming an expert mouser, I am also fine tuning my skills as the mole police.  There is absolutely nothing better than having your head, shoulder deep, in a mole run!  Mom says if I get real good at it, she may hire me out.  I'm not sure about that but I gots lots to practice with.  Also, now that I am learning to be a country dog, I have learned to ride in the car without being afraid anymore!  Not only can I ride in our car, I will get in anybody's car that opens their door for me.  I can ride in the neighbors' 4 wheeler and I can even ride on the mower with Mom, while she pulls a noisy trailer down the gravel road.  I sit in the mower seat and Mom gets to sit on what's left.  I be a pretty good dog.

When evening time comes and the sky gets dark, I like to go out just one more time.  There is something across the road, in the thick brush that needs to be barked at.  This activity usually gets me in trouble.  Mom says there could be things in that brush that would like to eat me.  I'd like to see them try!  Then, after I eat my supper, which is about the only time I really eat.....there's too much going on during the day to waste time eatin', so I just eat at nightime, I get ready for bed.  If I rolled in something delightful during the day, I hafta have a bath  I get between Mom and Dad, get under my blankie, stick all four legs into the air and I be so thankful for my wonderful day.   Sometimes I even be smilin' in my sleep cause I know I get to do it all again the next day.....and if the next day brings rain, it's still all good because that just makes the naps last longer!  Woof!