It's as if all hell has broken lose at our house in the morning. Sure, they haven't eaten since the day before, but what's the reason for our dogs to go absolutely insane while their breakfast is being made in the morning?

You'd think these dogs had been systematically starved or had run in a marathon! They bark, turn circle shots and all together act like a pack of wild animals that are on the scent of road kill just up ahead. It's all we can do to just get 'em out the back door to perform their morning ministrations before they charge full speed back in the house to eat.

For the record, we have four dogs: three Shetland Sheepdogs (Lily, Lyric & Declan) and a tri-color Collie (Douglas). The former are the insane ones who are so impatient as they wait for their food to be prepared.

Then there's Douglas.

Our collie couldn't care less if his breakfast is ready or not when he gets up in the morning. As a matter of fact, we usually don't event attempt to feed him until a few hours after the Shelties in the hope that his appetite will have increased by that time. This is because if we put his food down as the same time as the Shelties', he simply won't eat. He's such a diffferent animal than the manic, darting Shelties who simply must eat as soon as we open our eyes.

I deliberately noted that the Shelties go crazy when we open our eyes because as we lie in bed near the hour when we usually get up in the morning, Lyric (our Alpha wanna be) sits and stares at my bride as she's sleeping. As soon as she stirs, Lyric immediately starts barking excitedly, waking up the other dogs who join in the cacaphony. It makes little difference that she was de-barked years ago since the chorus from the other dogs easily makes up for her inability to express her feelings as loudly as she might desire.

As the sounds reach their cresendo, we always remember that as soon as the Shelties start eating, their barking ceases. And once they're finished with breakfast, they're pretty complacent for the rest of the day.

For the most part, that is, but that's fodder for another blog item for another day.