Our dog Jag saved my life at least a dozen times yesterday. I had no idea our home was such a dangerous place! I’m not referring to the usual threats like the canine destroyer vacuum or the broom some witch is coming RIGHT back to claim out of the closet. He was quick to point those out as always, but yesterday he was seeing danger EVERYWHERE. Did you know that the orange wash cloth – NOT the white one - might eat your face? …..that the compost bucket is a hiding place for veggie monsters? …..or that the laundry detergent is a flesh burning poison? By the end of the day, I was coming to the conclusion that living this long without his help was surely a miracle.
We were hours into this behavior before I realized that Jag’s real goal wasn’t to protect me at all – it was to wear me down. He was doing all his little Corgi brain could think of to drive me crazy. Unfortunately, Corgis are very smart dogs so the list of tortures was long. (My daughters would be quick to tell you that they are #11 on the canine intelligence scale. I, on the other hand, am annoyed that they didn’t make the top ten.)
I figured out his plan when I picked up my camera and he FLEW off his sofa perch to the back door. Like when my husband puts on his “ranchin’ shoes” (what kind of rancher wears a pair of worn out tennis shoes?!), throwing my camera strap over my head signals a trip outside. Once we were out the door, that little 2 ½ ft x 1 ½ ft monster turned into a sweet butterfly chasing puppy with an actual smile on his face! While I was looking through the lens, he occupied himself by swimming after a floating stick, rolling in the remnants of a skunk (ah, the joys of farm land), herding Libby back to the other horses, jumping over the fence rail to visit Beau and racing Tank to the cat’s water bowl. It was like watching the Energizer Bunny on steroids.
Why am I telling you this? Because my first post on this site was a message about “paying attention”. After missing ALL of Jag’s signals yesterday, I guess we can clearly assume that I was not following my own advice. However, I AM trainable. I am proud to say that we started out our day today by walking the pasture, mucking the stalls (the Corgi boys are a BIG help in this area), fetching the ball a few dozen times and rescuing sticks from drowning in the pond. The end result – Jag is quietly watching me battle the dangers in this house from his perch on the sofa. I am astonished!
How many simple "fixes" do I miss every day because I'm not paying attention?
We were hours into this behavior before I realized that Jag’s real goal wasn’t to protect me at all – it was to wear me down. He was doing all his little Corgi brain could think of to drive me crazy. Unfortunately, Corgis are very smart dogs so the list of tortures was long. (My daughters would be quick to tell you that they are #11 on the canine intelligence scale. I, on the other hand, am annoyed that they didn’t make the top ten.)
I figured out his plan when I picked up my camera and he FLEW off his sofa perch to the back door. Like when my husband puts on his “ranchin’ shoes” (what kind of rancher wears a pair of worn out tennis shoes?!), throwing my camera strap over my head signals a trip outside. Once we were out the door, that little 2 ½ ft x 1 ½ ft monster turned into a sweet butterfly chasing puppy with an actual smile on his face! While I was looking through the lens, he occupied himself by swimming after a floating stick, rolling in the remnants of a skunk (ah, the joys of farm land), herding Libby back to the other horses, jumping over the fence rail to visit Beau and racing Tank to the cat’s water bowl. It was like watching the Energizer Bunny on steroids.
Why am I telling you this? Because my first post on this site was a message about “paying attention”. After missing ALL of Jag’s signals yesterday, I guess we can clearly assume that I was not following my own advice. However, I AM trainable. I am proud to say that we started out our day today by walking the pasture, mucking the stalls (the Corgi boys are a BIG help in this area), fetching the ball a few dozen times and rescuing sticks from drowning in the pond. The end result – Jag is quietly watching me battle the dangers in this house from his perch on the sofa. I am astonished!
How many simple "fixes" do I miss every day because I'm not paying attention?
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