Dog Care

Shortly after I married Debbie, I was still somewhat lost in a fog.  Deb had a golden retriever, and was putting in a lot of time in at work at her job in California.  I was still trying to sell my part of the business in Utah, so we were living apart.  She asked me to take her dog so he would get some attention.  The dog was a bit of a struggle for me at first.  He loved to go outside, but he wanted to be indoors a lot also.  His hair was a real problem.  My son and I were not use to having an indoor pet. 

At first it was bothersome to me when I would try to write, because the dog would come and lay on my feet.  He had the whole house to settle in, but he was insistent.  He seemed more comfortable covering my feet than anywhere else.  It didn’t matter what room I was in.  It didn’t take long before the dog laying on me feet became the norm for both of us.  It became comfortable to me.

He was a funny dog.  We soon found that if we lined a couple of 5 gallon water bottles up, we could fence him off from parts of the house that we didn’t want him to go.  He could easily squeeze past them, or jump over them, but he wouldn’t.  He was also a fruit nut.  I think he thought he was human.  If I ate something, he thought he should.  I would never feed him from the table.  I would always feed him the dog food except for the fruit.  Bananas and strawberries were his favorites.  I don’t know if those kinds of things are good for dogs or not, but he would go nuts to get them.

My son warmed to him and had fun with him also.  The dog was especially fun in the snow.  He loved it.  He would play all kinds of games in the snow.  However, letting him play in the snow had its price.  He would get wet.  That fact never seemed to bother him when I would try to write.  He would still come and lay on my feet, wet hair and all. 

As much as I complained about the stuff I didn’t like about him over the 5 years I had been around him, like the hair everywhere, the holes he dug everywhere, and the monstrous piles he left in the yard, etc. etc. etc., when he came up missing last year at Christmas time, I actually missed him very much.  (However, I didn’t miss the hair, the holes everywhere, or cleaning up his many messes.)

As I’ve thought about it, Reilly was a good companion.  He helped to dull the edge of loneliness and it helped to have a constant friend.  Since that experience I have seen several reports on how dogs help people, who are dealing with traumatic experiences.  I truly believe it.  I think they have a sense of our emotional states, and they really do have a calming effect.  Grand children have the same kind of effect upon me.

If you find yourself in a fog, you might try getting a dog.  Just be prepared for all the work and extra things that you will have to deal with.

Until the next time

Jene