This is a love letter of sorts to my dog. I could easily write one to dogs in general, or to the dogs that have shared life with me, but I am going to focus on Fisher. As an adjunct to my prior post about the importance of figuring out what you love about your dog, I decided I would try to put into words some of what I love about mine.
Dear Fisher (AKA Sir, Coco Puff, Biggie Boy, Young Man, Charizard, and a host of other nicknames),
I love the many ways you bring joy into our lives.
Your enthusiasm, while sometimes in response to activities I really don’t want to sanction, makes me smile. The pure joy with which you run/ prance past me with your purloined shoe or sock almost always brings a laugh. It’s so hard to maintain my composure and try not to encourage you further when you just look so proud of yourself. I’m equally impressed with your enthusiasm for certain skills you have learned. Like how you pounce on the marker or disc. Not for you just running to it and stepping on it, no you have to prance and jump so both front feet come down on or near the marker. Or pressing a button. You keep breaking them as you continue to press, press, press with your ginormous paw.
Your joy when playing ball outside is infectious. Watching you jump, spin and run in your athletic, yet not very graceful, manner makes me laugh. Your timing is usually impeccably off. You jump before the ball has fully taken flight. You often run in the wrong direction. But it doesn’t matter. You put your all into running after the ball and then have the time of your life prancing just out of reach playing keep-away. Your ability to time dropping it and then scooping it up and running off again is in such contrast to your timing of jumping for the ball when someone throws or kicks it. And now, you have learned that the people get bored after a while of keep-away and usually give it up just enough to keep us engaged until you are ready to call it quits by running with the ball back to the door and dropping it on the porch.
Your dedication to finding all the good spots and positions for sleeping is something I often admire. I cannot count the number of photos I have taken over the years of you sleeping. Yes, I admit that sounds creepy, but it’s awfully hard to resist when you are upside down hanging your head over the edge of the chair with your front leg fully outstretched into the air or when you are on your back like an upside down beetle with your tongue ever so slightly sticking out of your mouth. I don’t understand your desire to bake yourself sleeping in the sun when the heat index is 100 degrees, especially when at the same time you actively seek all the coolest spots in the house to lay down as it’s just too hot to do anything else, but I respect it and set a timer to ensure you come back in before you overheat.
You are such a good teacher of lessons I didn’t realize I needed or wanted. Lessons like “Just one more is probably at least one too many” when it comes to working on training skills. And “Taking a break when you get frustrated is better than trying to keep doing what isn’t working.” You taught me how much fun trick training can be Although my reason for enrolling in the class was to try and work on your leash walking skills, we both ended up getting so much more out of the classes than I would have ever imagined.
You’ve helped me to be so much more understanding of A) how easy our last puppies were and B) how difficult raising a puppy can be for clientthat haven’t experienced a higher arousal pup. You gave us real-life experience of the concept of “Hangry” (meaning your reaction to any need that wasn’t met). You taught us that crate training is great, but not necessarily the answer to separation anxiety. Most importantly, you reminded us that patience and small steps can lead to wonderful outcomes. All of this has made me a better and more understanding trainer.
Of course, you also bring warmth, joy and comfort. The softness of your coat feels so wonderful. Petting you can be so calming, especially when you are in a mood to cuddle and lay down with your head across a lap. Like a furry weighted blanket, you can help bring me back down to the present moment as I relax and breathe deeper. When I walk into a room where you are sleeping or engaged in something else and your tail starts to wag, it always makes me smile. And while it is also a bit scary, when you run back to me from a distance as if it's the best possible thing you could think of, I’m absolutely delighted.
But one of the biggest things I love about you is how good you can make other people feel. When you go to school with me to visit, I can’t count the number of times someone says “I love you” to you. Students and staff. I’ve watched you be so patient with young children. And tolerant of students that have difficulty modulating their touch, or touching parts of you that they really shouldn’t. I’ve seen young people go from completely withdrawn and hidden to smiling and talking in your presence. I’ve witnessed how working with you can help kids who struggle to learn feel competent. And equally important, staff that are having a hard day brighten after even a brief interaction with you.
You’ve brightened the days of patients, family members and staff at the hospital and at memory care. When we are out and about, even just on a walk in the neighborhood, people stop to say hello to you or ask if they can pet you. You’ve been hugged by teenagers while we wait for ice cream. Inevitably, everyone walks away with a smile on their face. You help people find joy just by being you.
Thank you Fisher for your frequent reminders to look for and find joy every day.
How does your dog bring you joy? What do you love about your dog?
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