We’re early risers in this house.

Well, the dogs are, and they have made it very clear that they expect the staff to be up too.

It’s barely light when I quietly make my way downstairs but, despite my light touch on the carpet, they are eagerly waiting; my arrival heralds food and yesterday was Sunday.

There are always leftovers after Sunday lunch.

It’s particularly early this morning, thanks to the cat next door who regularly sashays slowly up and down the patio like Naomi Campbell at London Fashion Week. Taunting them with her freedom, and waking me with the synchronised barking that she takes as applause.

Tails wag with pleasure as I push the door open to be greeted by three furry faces and I cross the kitchen to open the back door, inhaling the cold dawn air as tentative birdsong greets me and the dogs amble around the lawn, re-marking their territory as their noses sniff out nocturnal visitors.

It’s rabbit breeding season and the golden retrievers weave their way around the garden like drunken ice-skaters, noses firmly pushed into the ground as they inhale the heady scent of missed opportunities.

Curiosity sated they wander back inside as I wait beside the boiling kettle, three serious pairs of eyes watching me, yesterday’s lunch fresh in their minds.

“Surely,” they look at each other as if to say, “They weren’t selfish enough to eat it all?”

I pour boiling hot water onto the tea bag waiting patiently in my mug as I mix nuts in their dishes, finishing if all off with a spoonful of gravy - the extra that I make just for them.

With three empty bowls sending compliments to the chef, I finish my tea and gently push back my chair.

I’m not working today and consider going back to bed but as I step towards the hall door those big beautiful eyes look up at me from the cushions that litter our floor like stepping stones.

“You’re not really going to leave us again, are you?” their practised hangdog look says, “Not after you’ve been gone all night.”

I turn back towards the kettle, click it on and make more tea as the street lights go out and the sun wakes to join us, stretching its arms across the garden.

As I return to sit at the kitchen table, the dogs relax and close their eyes once more; their bellies full and all well in their world, and as I warm my hands around my mug, I smile, all well in mine too.

More often heard on RTÉ Radio One getting “A Word in Edgeways”, Kate is excited to be sharing her thoughts with readers of Irish Country Living. Editor of The Muskerry News and Kenmare News, Kate loves dogs, gardening and writing, in no particular order.