Windy's morning preference.

Windy is not a morning person.

Hope can be bright and alert when my husband awakes at 5 a.m. She likes to go into the great room with him while he drinks his coffee and reads the paper.

Jake is flexible. If he has to get up in a hurry because we both have an early start, he will comply. If he is allowed to sleep, he will.

Windy’s stalling tactic is to be in a daze, look up through eyes half slit, then roll over on her back for a tummy rub. Then, if you are lucky, she will wake up. If not, she must be picked up and carried outside.

If you have not lived with dogs, this might seem odd to you. But dogs can have many startling familiar behaviors. Thankfully, I don’t have to yell at Windy for staring at her socks for 10 minutes while the school bus arrives.