Jumping For Joy March 30, 2014

Apparently it’s frowned upon. It’s one of those behaviors that helps earns a dog (who shall remain unnamed) the title of obedience school drop out. It’s one of those things that makes a lot of people say “no!” in loud voices. Jumping. From the ground up, it is literally one of my life’s true conundrums.

Because my forever people seem to like it. From day one, I have reacted to the simple motion of a person patting their legs while standing as a cue they would like me to jump into their arms. Obviously that must be why they are patting their legs like that. So I use the imaginary springs in my legs to jump two or three feet into the air and voila! Success for all parties.

Unfortunately not everyone understands this gesture as the sign of joy it is meant to be. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that the thought of catching my 23-pound frame would seem daunting if one is physically unprepared. But it got me to thinking today about the unique power of the unexpected.

The unknown. From the ground up, I know it can be scary. And usually there is no way to prepare. But if we overcome it by bringing fear to purpose, it can become a beacon of joy. If we let it.

This is not to say my methods of jumping for joy are always the best. To each his own. At least I know it works for me. And for my people. And, as it turns out, it worked on the photographer visitors that were here in my forever home recently. It turns out they didn’t forget about me at all. They actually included me in a second version of the commercial, which begins with a lovely image of mom and baby Carter.

Of all things, I was jumping. There I am doing the thing that most dog trainers frown upon. The naughty thing that gets dogs like me kicked out of obedience school. The thing that seems to elicit the “no” response more than most other things I do. There I am doing what I do best. Jumping for joy. I don’t think I will ever be convinced it’s such a bad thing.

To see the second version of the commercial: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=573205620437&l=8948471090623811603

 

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Playing Second Fiddle March 20, 2014

I’ll be honest. I know I talked a good game. I know I sounded pretty excited. But I honestly had no idea what was going to happen when my people brought my new little person into m forever home.

Obviously that’s not the case anymore after almost three months and I need to tell you what I am most surprised about. I had no idea how much I didn’t matter. Please don’t misunderstand – I don’t mean to sound anything other than honest in that I am honestly and sincerely playing second fiddle these days.

And – if I let it – it would bother me. But – because I don’t – it doesn’t. And it’s quite honestly liberating because I don’t. I don’t believe in taking the easy road in life, and that would be the easy road. Instead, I enjoy when visitors come to spend time with baby Carter. To awe over him. To find joy in his smiles. Because I believe in the power of joy being shared.

That is why I am putting aside my grief for joy when it comes to the primetime debut of my dear forever family I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. The photographers loved me when they were here. They filmed me jumping excitedly at the prospect of going for a walk or to the dog park. They enjoyed when I hopped on mom’s lap while she snuggled Carter. They even wanted to catch some film of me coming back from a jaunt outside.

But none of it made the cut. Mom stumbled upon the promo on television yesterday and I was nowhere to be found. Instead, there she was picking up dear baby Carter from the changing table and bringing him to breakfast with the family. At first I was petrified.

Then I realized it doesn’t matter what the outside world sees. I know where my heart was during those images. I was chilling out underneath the table where I might have been out of sight and out of mind. But I most certainly was not out of heart. Nor do I ever intend to be, even when live offers me the chance to play second fiddle.

Video to follow….