As you should be able to garner from
the name of my blog, my dog plays a large part in my journey back.
Skye is my first animal shelter dog and definitely won't be my last.
When my sons and I went to the pound to look for a new dog the pens
were filled with yapping, howling maniacs that must have known what
waited for them if they didn't get a pardon. We walked down a long
row of pens without spotting a dog that had that special something
that you just know when you see it. I've found that I make snap
judgments about people and animals that usually are correct. Job
interviews with me are a real hoot. “Hello, my name is Bob”,
they'll say, obviously lacking that special it. “Thanks for
coming”, I say.
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| The catdog on guard. |
Down the far side of the pens we walked
discussing the various dogs we passed. As we came to the end of the
row, there she was. Sitting quietly and watching us. When we paused
she put her paws up on the pen door and stretched, wagging her tail.
“This is the one”, I told the boys and they agreed. As it turned
out she was a recent arrival and we had to wait a day to make sure
her MIA owner didn't come looking for her. When we came to pick her
up she quietly sat as I put the leash on her and took her to the car.
Once we got her home we discovered a
few things about her that weren't outwardly obvious. One was that she
was quite proficient at barking...at almost anything that came down
our road, and other dogs, and sirens, and well you get the idea.
Another odd thing about her is that she is a cat dog. She may look
like a dog but in many ways acts like a cat. For instance, she likes
to look out windows and will lay anywhere that allows her to
accomplish that goal. The back of the couch, the bedside table, etc.
I've never had a smallish dog before so this may just be a factor due
to her size. Our Golden Retriever and Lab wouldn't have fit on either
of those two options so I guess they just never thought of it.
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| Trying to guilt me into a run |
Ultimately, the best thing about her is
she loves to get out and run! I've never really run with a dog on a
regular basis. The Golden Retrievers we've had were interested in
running as long as there was something to retrieve at the end of the
sprint. The Lab was kind of the same way but she tended to lose
interest mid run and just look at you. “What was I doing out here
in the yard?”, her expression would seem to say. Skye is another
matter completely. She isn't much of a retriever although she will
play the game for a brief time. She absolutely goes crazy when I put
on a pair of running shorts. She begins to jump vertically, bouncing
her way around me. Normally I put her on a leash when we go outside
so she doesn't run next door and visit with the cows and George the
guard donkey (she and George have a thing going on, but that's
another story). When we're going running she goes straight to the car
and waits for me to open a door so she can take her position in the
passenger seat.
Do you run with a dog?
Who is the leader on the run, you or
the dog?
Leashed or unleashed?
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