Yesterday was the start of something we look forward to all year long in this house. ESPN Dog Day! Perhaps you thought I might say the first day of college football season or the first broadcast of College Game Day on ESPN. Those two came in at a close second around here. Actually we started our morning watching the televised college football hype program airing right on Main Street in Disney World, in Orlando, Florida. Instead of a college campus with tailgating fans and students holding funny signs, it was Mickey and Minnie parading into the park behind an atypical small Game Day crowd. Nevertheless it still was music to my ears, “Football season is here!” But the real electricity filled our family room when Game Day ended and ESPN Dog Day began!

Koda and Summer jumped down from their snoozing spots on the sofa, sending throw pillows through the air, and raced toward the tv set at the sound of the first bark. The line up of talented athletes on the screen worked our dogs into a feisty frenzy. Border Collies, Shepherds, Retrievers, and even a Mastiff. Big dogs and little dogs all lined up with their trainers, waiting their turns to show their stuff (like an NFL Combine). Koda and Summer threw their heads high and barked, danced side to side, and pushed close as they could into the action on the screen.

There are only a few things on tv that ever really grab the attention of these dogs: doorbells ringing, loud knocking followed by greetings, and barking dogs. On a tv show, it can be the quietest tiny yelp in the background of a neighborhood or city scene and just like that, these two are on high alert and bolt upright. They either run towards the front door or straight to our television set. Then the scene continues and the dogs relax. It makes us laugh every time. The idea of actually turning on a program that features dogs never occurred to me. I had no idea the amount of stimulation they would experience watching dogs of various sizes compete with agility and speed, by racing around cones and jumping off docks into pools of water. Koda and Summer were mesmerized by the canine action right there in our house against the wall. I have to believe it confused them a little, much like it did to me when I was a small child thinking that there were tiny cartoon people inside the tv in our house. Just like young me, I don’t think the dogs questioned it much. They simply enjoyed the close proximity of smart, fast and agile dogs. An hour of watching ESPN Dog Day pooped these pups out.

I’d like to think it also inspired them to go run faster and dart quicker around objects later in the day when we went outside. How can you not get excited this weekend? It’s the start of college football season and ESPN Dog Day! Yahoo! #GoDeacs #Phoenix #Aussiedoodlesarefast