DIANNE’S DOGHOUSE
Surviving Joseph
My puppy Joseph has special needs. He is a doodle, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with Poodle. He is a bundle of muscle, who makes other high energy dogs look comatose, so I try to counteract his high-spirited enthusiasm with massive doses of exercise.
You may be asking yourself, why did I get another dog, since I already have Joy and Grace? It probably had something to do with my childhood. In my family it was understood we would not have a dog. We could have one fish, one ugly fish… or maybe a bird. After the fish died, I decided to catch my own bird. Turns out it was a real bird, a canary named Sugar who sang all the time and the owner didn’t want her back.
I’d really, rather have a dog. So, when I left home, I began life with dogs. There was Rusty and Joy, and Simon Peter, and Mary Magdalene, and another Joy, and Jesse, and Jeff, and Grace. All were dogs of perfection and played a starring role in my true-love-dog experiences. Then here comes Joseph, a puppy left behind with the breeder because nobody wanted a five-month-old dog.
After acclimating him to his new home, I decided to take him on a small road trip for bonding time. Packing a puppy is challenging with a crate, blankies, food, dishes, bones, treats, leash, water bottle and toys… It was a day to remember. Potty breaks every fifteen minutes, throw up, climbing up my body while driving and crying when big trucks pass by.
We finally arrive at Mohican Forest and now it is time for training on leash while lots of awesome smells and lots of squirrels to tempt him. There is so much new stuff to see, smell and tinkle on. Pretty soon Joseph shakes with anticipation and his dance becomes a barely contained desire to bolt. SQUIRREL sprints across our path. All twenty pounds of muscled puppy bursts into a leaping, howling pursuit.
I plant my feet and leverage my body with a double hand hold on the leash. I catch Joseph at the pinnacle of his highest leap as he performs a spectacular midair tumble. He hops up, wipes the astonished look off his face, and trots over to me in his best model-of-obedience persona. I check him over for injuries as he gives me an enthusiastic sloppy kiss and wiggles ‘Again!’
It’s Christmas Eve. We sit in the library in front of the fireplace and feel very excited for Joseph’s first Christmas with his humans and his sisters. To keep Joseph busy, he gets the first present, a new toy, a tennis ball. He takes a sniff, clamps his teeth on the ball. SQUEAK! Then leaps up and runs through the house to the kitchen.
Zoom! Squeak, squeak, squeak!
He whips around, passes us, and dashes to another part of the house.
Zoom! Squeak, squeak, squeak!
The rest of us open our presents.
Zoom! Squeak, squeak!
Have coffee.
Zoom! Squeak, squeak!
Have breakfast.
Zoom! Squeak, squeak!
Joseph is incurably happy!
I love this crazy boy, and he loves me. We can do this day by day to discover not what Joseph can become, but what I can become. Thank you, God, for Joseph.
Blessings,
Dianne Hammontree—Private dog training lessons, dog sitting in your home, artist
419-606-4433
