A Dog and his Human

I'm a Labrador-lover.  This breed has a claim on my heart, and that's that.  Shamrock (a black Lab) was my first dog.  He died too soon, and taught me SO much.  And I learned after his death that I not only missed that particular dog, I missed dog.  I missed the dog lifestyle.

What on earth is that, you ask?  Fair enough.  I missed walking around the neighborhood with my dog.  I missed a dog in the back seat on Saturday errands.

I missed the excuse to go to nearby forest preserves and parks.  I missed not feeling quite so much like a nut when I talked out loud to myself; I could always pretend I was talking to the dog, after all.

So, I got Finnegan - the yellow Lab.  He was a 7 week old puppy when he came to his forever home, and we've been through the wringer, he and I.   There's a big difference between a puppy and a 2 year old dog, who's actually sick and has a fairly calm temperament to begin with.  Finnegan and Shamrock are nothing alike, when you get right down to it.

So, this dog lifestyle that's in my head as a perfect picture has nothing to do with the dog lifestyle I'm actually living.  The picture-perfect version is a well-trained dog, who never ever has accidents in the house, who goes in the kayak, who goes eagerly with me on road trips, who camps with me, who lets me sleep in on the weekends (how he might know it's the weekend.... well, this is the fantasy picture, after all!).  Oh, and a dog who is politely tired from all these activities and leaves me alone when I need to work or entertain or talk on the phone or....

Also, in this fantasy, my house is the perfect dog-house without crossing over into crazy animal-lover territory.  So, there would be cute dog beds in almost every room (keeps him off the furniture, in my fantasy), there would be cute dog toy boxes full of stimulating toys.  The back yard would have things for him to do, and a lovely fence so that he could play safely.  I would make all his food and store it in clever containers in the deep freeze (that I don't have).  There certainly would not be dog hair here, there, and everywhere.

As is usual for me, the actual situation is somewhat different.  He wakes me up at 5:30 in the morning.  I am a terrible grump at 5:30; I don't see this changing about myself anytime soon.  I sling on whatever clothes I can find for a quick 1/2 mile walk.  I sometimes feed him homemade food; more often, I rely on over-priced, ecologically burdensome, but well-rated commercial dog food.  We do a lot of things together, but not really enough, when you take his youth and energy level into consideration.  And my house and yard are really not dog friendly, so that needs work, too.

I more than half-worry that I should not have gotten such an active dog as a single person.  Is my crazy work schedule and busy life incompatible with living with a dog?  Is it fundamentally unkind to such a great dog?  He loves me, I know he does.  But am I doing right by him?  Because I am so crazy about him, though, those are the wrong questions -even they plague me.  The only right question is how to make sure he has a great life.

I think he would like to run with me.  I am not a runner, but it's something I'd like to conquer.  A slow jog would be fine, come to that.  If I could walk even just 1 mile at that early morning walk, doubling our distance, I think he would like that better than the short walk we're taking now -and it would be a nice bit of extra exercise for me.  If we could add another walk to our days, making three good walks daily, I think that would help.  We need to always be in a training class or an organized activity; it helps our relationship enormously if we are learning together.  We're going to do the Advanced Manners class until he easily passes his Canine Good Citizen test.  We're also going to do the outdoor group hiking class.  In the winter, we should do rally or nose-work classes.

We're headed into good weather, so I need to stop relying on the dog park so much and get out to parks and preserves more regularly.  I absolutely must develop a rainy day plan for us.  I need to take him with me to the pet food store and anywhere else that he can go (Lowes?  Home Depot?) 

He goes to daycare twice a week.  It's okay with me if that goes to three times a week in the deepest part of the winter.

But on the non-daycare days when I have to work, I either need a dog walker or I need to go home for a lunch-time walk-around.  Again, it will be good for me, better for my house, and better for my dog.  One of those days, I bet I could stay at home and work from home for the afternoon - at least sometimes.   On the weekends, we need to spend significant amounts of time together, that's all there is to it.



I must, I really must ensure that the house is safe and inviting for him.  Poisonous plants must be removed from the yard.  Remodeling clutter has to be picked up every single day, even if the workers are coming back tomorrow.  The yard needs to be tended, in any case.  If I can figure out a way to keep him safe, he can be out there with me while I work.  He has a toybox full of outdoor toys.  I also have agility equipment that we need to make better use of.  He needs a paddling pool.

And, on busy days, we can relax together in the evening.  We can sit by the firepit.  I can have wine, and he can have a bone.  We can sit in front of the fireplace in the winter. 

We can watch TV on nights when nothing else is possible.  If I read aloud to him, he can practice for the Library's kid-reading program.

We need to get back to short and sweet training sessions throughout the day.  5 minutes at a time, 3 or 4 times a day, would be great.

 In short, we're in this together, he and I.  Whether or not I have the energy, these things need to happen.