It's a dog's life...

We were discussing this morning, Mr PM and I, as we hurtled off to our various workplaces and school, that the dog really Has It Good.

His day begins when he is awoken from his slumbers and taken for a good run around on the hay fields. The fields are big and flat and full of long grasses and are simply perfect for jolly dog leaping, larking about and general rabbit chasing.

After that it is back home to look at the hens and have a sniff at various interesting smells (his doggy version of Today), before returning to find that breakfast has magically appeared. He drinks water slobberingly from his bowl before flopping, with a big, satisfied sigh, into his dog cage (big doggy domain, which he loves) onto an old king size duvet.

That's it.

We buzz around finding school shoes, trainers, remembering last night's homework, have I paid the dinner money?, applying factor 50, finding raincoats, sports kits, where's the other trainer?, school cardigans (I think I left it at school... or it might be in the car... or I might be sitting on it...) working out if it's a work day or a home day (me) or what shift it is (Mr PM), cleaning teeth, brushing hair, ow! ouch! stop it!, putting fruit into school bags for amser chwarae, sandwiches into box (me), last night's leftover lentil dahl and rice into a Pyrex dish (Mr PM), telling the girls AGAIN to clean your teeth and put your shoes on and For God's Sake STOP Fighting!, feeding the guinea pigs, watering the hanging baskets, where are my keys? And my glasses? And my security pass?... and all the while the dog does this: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Then the door closes behind us and peace descends, so the dog does a bit more of this: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Then we come home at 3.15pm and he looks pleased to see us. Then he does more Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz while we do homework and change and other things. The he goes out for another run and comes home to another bowl of food and then he does more Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Then it's out in the dark for a quick last minute wee and a lot of Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz again.

It's quite simple really. I could do that. Occasionally he has to have a bath, perhaps four times a year, mostly he just potters about in the garden while we do too. From time to time he is called upon to take a role in the girls' games. He sits stoically, beatific expression on his face, while little children run around him playing vets with squeaky voices. Sometimes strangers come to the door and he pretends he is invisible should they be burglars and he be expected to bark or (horror!) bite. Sometimes there are women and children to be protected, so he must Look Fierce, which he does, but then he has a special look of utter relief when potential foes are unmasked as friends.

He sometimes lies on his back and grins (see picture).

I think I would too, if I were him.