Stories Of London

PAGE FOUR:
IT IS PAST REVEILLE
&
I AM READY TO BREAKFAST ….. NOW, IF YOU PLEASE

Casanova/Puppy was in the habit of getting up for breakfast at 5 a.m.  I refused to get up at such an unearthly hour since I felt he could sleep a little longer.  As a result, I decided that the time when Reveille  was sounded would need to change.  Of course, I was under no illusion that this would be easy to achieve since he was in the habit of getting up and going outside, and most importantly, getting his chow at this time!  However, despite licks-in-the-face and whacks-of-the-tail, I was determined not to become habituated to this demand.

I decided that Reveille would take place at ~ 5.45 a.m.  This is the time was when my Clock Radio comes on and alerts me to The News.

Rise ‘n’ Shine!!!
showing Windsor Davies (1930-2019) as Battery Sergeant Major ‘Shut Up’ Williams
in the BBC series, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum (1974-1981)

Reveille

-oOo-

Casanova/Puppy, to some extent, disproves the old adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!

Casanova/Puppy is a very smart dog – and this is not just my bragging, although I do on occasion!!!  It only took about ten days or so of my tolerating the licks and the whacks for us to achieve my goal.  We arrived at it by my insisting on waiting, first ten minutes before getting up, and then, fifteen minutes, and so on until  we arrived at 5.45 a.m.

Although he now gets up later, I can not say that he sleeps longer, but I have to admit that he is quite good about waiting for me to get up.  In addition, I no longer get licks my face to hurry me along, but I often hear him grumbling to himself should I remain in bed past our agreed time, which will generally get me a whack with his tail!  However this is a small price to pay to get up at a reasonable time.

-oOo-

Once awake and out of bed, the dog expects his breakfast to be ready sur-le-champ …….. immediately!  At first, I felt that he could allow me a few minutes grace to clean my teeth before preparing his bowl of dry dog food.  Slowly but surely, we reached an agreement that allows me to brush my teeth and generally collect myself.  Despite this, his breakfast is prepared without too much delay.

-oOo-

After breakfast is served, he enjoys six little nuggets of something-or-other to crunch on ……… these are his Treats!  Apparently he expected each one to be thrown into the air so that he could jump and catch them in his mouth.  He is most annoyed should one be thrown in such a manner as to hit his nose and then fall to the ground and roll away. Should this happen, he huffs a little and then sets off to find it!

Jumping for Treats
This photograph was taken by Ms Jane Cumming and appears with permission.

When it came to the time for The Tossing of Treats was to take place, Casanova/Puppy refused to entertain any negotiations regarding another activity!  The ritual had to be performed immediately after the last morsel of his breakfast had been gobbled up.  It was expected of me to be ready to toss and to be accurate!  No delay was acceptable!  Regarding this matter, he proved to be as stubborn as any British Labour Union Leader of the past or any North Korean Diplomat!  I looked up the word stubborn in the dictionary and was amused to read what I found: