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Hi!
Bringing dogs into the home can be stressful. I’m finding out this first hand. Amazing what it feels like. I've gone through this before but it's been a very long time. I’ve gone from non-eventful to completely eventful all day long. It has been something of the sobering sort. Snickers and Lucy at the time for the better half of the last 6 years we just kind of did our own thing. We could read each other well enough. There wasn’t ever a question of should I leave the dog out before I go to the store? It was always yes. I left the kennel out because Snickers would go back in there and lay from time to time, so I kept it cozy with a nice bed.
Often, I look at Lilly now as she’s brought the youth back into my life. Now there must be a plan of how I will utilize her for the day. What we will work on? Working her mentally as much as me working physically.
I think we are all held accountable to something. I think when we find our reason or come to terms with us saying I don’t do this for me but because they need it. Having dogs has enabled me to have a consistent workout routine. Walk or run 3 miles a day. That’s the standard. Now, I’ve taken up trail running and love that even more. I would never do something like this very consistent if I didn’t have a dog. When Snickers’s body was failing him, my exercise and activity dwindled. It was in that time I realized that me taking care of my dog has held me to a higher standard. It depends on me. It allows me to become more that I would if I didn’t have a dog.
We can say that kids can do that as well. That may be true, and my son most certainly helps me grow. This though, I feel is so different. I believe kids have a self-control, they seem to understand a little more. In return, with their understanding I believe it allows us to be lazy in a way. With a dog you can’t. It does not understand you just didn’t get to it. When you get home from work I look at it as the dog was charging all day, eliminating very little energy to give you all it has when you get home. That’s love right. They want to invest as much as possible into you. If that is not a best friend, then I don’t know what is.
I’m not sure when I became this way about people and dogs. I always hold myself higher than I would if I didn’t have a son or a dog. Part of me thinks it was when Snickers attacked me in the kitchen so many years ago. I’m not entirely sure on when. During that time, it changed in me and felt fuller to help and give a dog more of me and make sure that it got what it needed. For me I’m happier when I see my dog after a good workout, mentally and physically exhausted and sleeping. They just get so snugly when they are tired. If you are truly giving your dog what it needs, you will have a super cuddly dog in the evening times. I promise you! It’s a look in their eyes that says, they worked hard that day.
What I can say after day two is that me and Henry picked the right dog for our lives. She has just the right amount of energy, love, and personality anyone could ask for. We are getting closer and closer by the day. She saw me today and was wagging her tail very hard. For her being a runner, I opened the hatch where she was riding, and she jumped out and went in the home off leash. She is trusting me and that makes me feel validated that me showing her the ropes in and outside the home is working for her. It is my belief that I’m honest with her as well. I don’t want her to be this perfect obedience dog. It’s not my style to have her that way. My style is for her to be loose and relaxed. For me to try and open the front door and her mind not switch to squirrel and break my arm. This takes time but during that time it is vitally important you show resistance to the behaviors you don’t like. You want to show your dog the ropes in the home. You do not want the dog to make its own schedule up.