That's why I was so surprised to hear a suggestion that came out last week giving us yet another tip on the way to make life even easier for our pets. A report came out that, in order to prepare our pets for the change to Daylight Savings Time, we should get up an hour earlier for a few days to help them make the adjustment.

Are you kidding me? I do enough for my two dogs—getting up an hour earlier in the morning so that they can get a head start on their late morning naps is not going to be one of them!

As it is, I get up early enough to get ready for work. And when I do, Casey, the black lab, doesn't budge—well, unless it's to move from one room to another so as not to be bothered by my radio. She's tougher to wake up in the morning than the boys were when they were teenagers!

She'll finally wander down the stairs later in the morning when she hears the breakfast dishes rattling on the oft chance that a couple of Cheerios or a crust of toast might make its way under the kitchen table. But that could be as early as 7 a.m. on a weekday or as late as 10 a.m. on a weekend.

Now Curly, the golden retriever, that's a different story. He gets up as soon as he hears me move—because he's in a constant state of hunger. He equates any movement by me as an opportunity for him to eat. If I get up at 7 a.m., he's right there. If I get up at 3 a.m. to visit the bathroom or to get a glass of water, he's right there. And if I try to slip back into bed without taking him outside, he sticks his cold, wet nose in my face and whines until I get up again.

So I should get up earlier in the morning so that they can adjust? I don't think so.

But we all do some funny things for our pets. Like a friend of ours who bought a special hose to fill her dog's water dish—because there's supposedly something in a regular garden hose that spoils the water and can harm animals, she says.

Spoils the water? My dogs drink out of the toilet if someone leaves the seat up. They drink out of the water fountain in our backyard. They drink out of the mud puddles on the patio. And, yes pet fans, their water dish is filled with fresh water every day—it's just that it's all the way over on the other side of the yard ... and they're just too tired to walk over there after getting up so darn early!

So here it is, the first weekday morning after we've all lost that "spring forward" hour of sleep that we never get back (I don't care what they say about "fall back"). I'm tapping away on the keyboard of my computer, and guess where the dogs are? Lying comfortably at my side like man's best friends are supposed to? Get real.

Casey just gave me that "do you have any idea what time it is!?!" look when I passed her in the hall on the way to my office, then she sauntered off to a quiet spot in the back of the house to catch a few more winks.

And as for Curly? He's out in the backyard checking all the bowls for food. Hey, you never know!

Want to talk? Call me at 408.354.3110, ext. 31, or drop me a note at dsparrer@svcn.com.