Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

WTF Wednesday

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I’ve been limited this week in the WTF’s that crossed my path.

I thought I wasn’t going to have a thing to write about until yesterday morning when 2BrownDawgs started her post off like this:

“This past weekend while we were driving down the Interstate we saw something crazy.  A pickup truck was pulling a 5th wheel trailer and tied toward the front of the bed of the pickup was a Golden Retriever.  The poor thing was sort of stuffed to the side of the hitch.  We couldn’t get over how terribly unsafe the whole thing looked.  Should that hitch give way, bye-bye Golden Retriever.”

Say it with me.  What the fuck?

I would have thought in this day and age people would have the common sense to not stick a dog in the back of a pick-up truck!  The poor dog was probably terrified to start with and then add in the safety factor!

I was reminded of a story that happened a few years back.  Hubby and I were at our local warehouse club, it was winter and it was raining.  A cold New England winter rain.

I don’t know about where YOU live, but here when it rains for some strange reason people can’t walk/run/skip to their cars with their groceries.  They need to send someone (usually the husband) to get the car while the delicate ones wait under the store’s awning.    Now that I think about it, I might have been doing the same thing.  LOL

This man pulls up to get his wife and two children and he has a big, shaggy dog in the back of his pick-up truck.

I about lost my shit.

I very politely asked him if he would be moving the dog to the cab of the truck and he said no.

Game on.

I told him the dog should not be riding in the back of the pickup and he said he had no room in the truck with the two kids.

As nicely as I could, I told him to put the kids in the back of the pick-up at which point his wife chimed in stating they would if they could get away with it.

Nice.   I don’t know who I felt more sorry for, the kids or the dog.

The last thing I remember them saying to me was they could have left the dog at home by himself, locked in the basement like other people would, instead of bringing the dog with them.

I’m not sure but if I was the dog, I probably would have chosen the basement.

Sometimes I really think people should need to take a common sense test before they are allowed to try and raise anything.

Be The Dog

I love that saying, “Be The Dog.”  As I’m sure you can tell because I’ve used it in about 3 or 4 posts.

Mazzie’s assistant, Tanya said, “Awesome new mantra that couldn’t be more true. Great name for a book, product line, the list is endless…. get a logo and trademark the name now!!!!”

I got wicked excited.  So I checked the trademark office and it’s already been trademarked, which is why I’ve added JUST to Be The Dog, but I’m not even sure I can do that.

On the chance that I can’t do that, I need a new slogan and that’s where you come in.

First of all does anyone know if I can add JUST to Be The Dog?

Here are some of the slogans I’ve thought of, bear in mind I want the slogan to be motivating:

JUST Be the Dog

Believe In The Dog

Live Life Like The Dog

Trust The Dog

I Am The Dog

Who’s The Dog

What Would The Dog Do?

Of course I’m open to any and all suggestions, so let me have it!

Obstacles – Be The Dog

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Before I start this post I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Chuck and Collies of the Meadow, last week they bestowed their Collies Choice award on this blog.  If you have a minute pop over and say hello to Chuck.  His collie Trevor is failing and I’m sure a kind word would make him feel better.

Sampson is a people dog.  Don’t let his enthusiastic run up to your dog fool you, once the greeting is over he will be leaning on your leg encouraging you to pet him.

When we pulled up to the park yesterday morning Bob and Marge (a couple we’ve met on the trail) were just walking in.  Sampson was super excited.  By the time I opened the door to let the dogs out Bob and Marge had made their way into the field.

Sampson jumped out of the car and started to run up the path.  He’s usually very good about not getting too far ahead of me and apparently he had reached his comfort zone and turned around and came back to me.

Being a projective thinker I figured by the time we got to the field they would be long gone.

I was wrong.

They were stretching.  Still I felt like we shouldn’t bother them, so despite the eager look in Sampson’s eyes, I told him, no let’s go this way.

We headed up the hill.

I enjoy the hikes as much as the dogs but I usually let them choose the walk, and yesterday Sampson chose to head back to the field.  Not being a projective thinker, he assumed Bob and Marge would be where he left them.

Sampson was wrong, but that doesn’t matter.  What matters is being the dog, he found a way around his obstacle (which was me not allowing him into the field.)

Sampson came at his obstacle from a different direction.

You can over-come your obstacles. Be The Dog.

 

What kind of obstacles are preventing you from achieving your goals? What can you do to over-come them?

Don’t let obstacles get in your way.

Be The Dog.

Don't Project – Be The Dog

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I probably shouldn’t admit this, but there are some blogs that I just can’t wait to read.  When I sign into my google reader I go straight for those blogs.  Of course I won’t tell you which ones I read first, because that would be like telling one of your kids that you liked them better than the other. 🙂

I’m going to go on record right now saying, I want to be your favorite blog in your google reader, and I plan on working hard to make it so.

I’m loving the “Be The Dog” slogan, that’s all I’ve thought about since yesterday.  There are so many lessons we can learn from our dogs, not least of which is not to project what is going to happen, but to live in the now.

We all know dogs are not linear thinkers, they do not have the capabilities of projecting (or anticipating if you will) what will happen next.

There have been a couple of times while out walking where I’ve lost Sampson.   Usually it is because he has seen or smelled something and run off to investigate.  In the meantime I have continued walking but Sampson doesn’t understand the concept that I was here and now I’m there.  He cannot project where I will be upon his return.  He only knows where I was when he left me.  Sampson lives in the now.

As you know Delilah has run off on me a number of times, the worst (for me) being the day she got stuck under someone’s air conditioner. Delilah does not project the outcome when she runs off.  All she knows is there is something far more exciting than whatever it is that I have in my treat bag.  She does not project that if she runs off, on our next walk she will be on leash and not allowed those freedoms.  Delilah lives in the now.

We need to learn to live in the now.  To not project what will happen if we write that slightly controversial blog post, or submit a query letter to an agent.  You will never know unless you try.

When you are older, sitting on the porch in your rocking chair telling stories to your great-grand children let them be stories about things you’ve accomplished, don’t let them be regrets for not having tried.

If it is something you want to do, just DO IT.  Don’t be afraid about what might happen. Don’t put that kind of restriction on yourself, live in the now.

Don’t Project – Be The Dog.

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