Lessons From and For 4 Legs

I had two days off in a row, which is some kind of record for the last few months so of course I came down with a miserable cold. I’m fighting to keep it from going into my chest, but I’m losing. I’m afraid I’m getting bronchitis. I’ve also been having a string of bad migraines so I’m feeling pretty lousy.

My pups have been very good company. They are so patient when I’m sick. I really value having dogs that are happy to get up and go with me, but can also kick back and keep me company when I need to lay low.

When Magnus was a puppy I was really sick. I was in a severe depression and slept a lot. He as such a good boy to sleep with me even though he was a puppy. Looking back on the blog I don’t think that really comes through in my posts, but it was not the best time in my life. Being down today made me start thinking of this next boy puppy coming into my life. Actually nearly everything makes me think of the puppy.

It will be so different this time. With Maizey and Magnus I wasn’t a working mom. I had much more time than I do now. But being such an introvert I also had to work harder to get them the socialization they needed. We already know I didn’t do a good enough job with Maizey, but with Magnus I really did work hard to get him the socialization he needed. Socialization will be built into this next little guys life as he’ll be coming to work with me quite a lot. That means lots of people and dogs will be built into his life from the beginning.

Remember the battle I had about what do with Magnus and puppy class? Thank goodness I ended up taking him to Calling All Dogs as that was the beginning of my eventually working there. That’s another difference with this puppy. His first three classes are already scheduled out. He’ll start visiting classes as soon as he comes home, then start his own puppy class in the beginning of September. It will be really interesting to be a student in a class I teach now.

So many things are different with this guy. He comes from wonderful lines, Embee Cavaliers has already sent me health certifications on his parents, and grandparents. His first weeks of life have been totally different than my two monkeys. He has been getting early stimulation, good nutrition and wonderful love from day one. Those are all things Maizey certainly didn’t get with her rocky start and things there was no way Magnus had in a puppy mill.

All of this adds up to me being incredibly unworried about this little guy. I was such a worry wort with my last two. I had a list a mile long of things I wanted to accomplish with them. Some of which we’ve done and some we haven’t got to yet. With this guy my only expectation is to love him and have fun.

In general I’m just in a much more settled place, which is funny since many things in my Real Life are the same and some even worse, but the one thing that’s not the same is I’m not sick anymore. I’m stronger and happier and I guess that’s sort of the bottom line with this post. If you suffer from depression, don’t give up. Sometimes things don’t change, but take a lesson from my dogs and sleep when you need to sleep, get up and go when you can, sit in each moment for what it is and just let it be. I know it’s easy to say that and hard to do it, and harder still to remember it when you’re in the pit, but make a note today and let your dogs remind you when you need it.

On a final lighter note, my new little guy needs a name! I have two front runners in mind and think I want to stick with the ‘M’ theme so does anyone have any ideas? Leave me a comment with your favorite puppy name!