Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Be. Here. Now.



Back when I used to work for a different Big Ten university, I had the opportunity to go to a one or two-day-long seminar on . . . . shoot . . . something - change management/campus climate/etc. (oops!)We talked about the concept of "Be Here Now," and apparently that's all I retained.
Probably because I got this cute desk plate:

One of the things I learned early on with Wrigley is that I HAD to be present when I was with her. Great Danes are apparently highly social animals, and can easily suffer from separation anxiety. [Apparently I ignored missed that bit of information in my research.]

I learned VERY QUICKLY where the phrase "follow you around like a puppy" came from. When I first brought her home, Wrigley literally followed me everywhere. No seriously - EVERYWHERE.
I needed a drink of water - she came to the kitchen. And then back to wherever I was.
I forgot a snack to go with said drink of water, she came back into the kitchen. And then back again.
Washing the dishes from the snack? She'd be sitting in the kitchen next to me.
Water goes through the body . .. you get the picture.
She was everywhere. Constant. Ever present.

Which was adorable and endearing and also sometimes annoying and frustrating at the same time.

Until I came to terms with the fact that I had chosen to bring this puppy into my life - not the other way around. And I needed to give her this needed and wanted attention, otherwise - what was the point of me getting a puppy? I didn't buy a decoration for my living room; I added a four-legged baby to my family, and I needed to treat her as such. She needed love, attention, boundaries and my time.

The "attention" part of that has been a little challenging at times. That's where the "Be Here Now" concept came into play.


When we first went out on walks, Wrigley was obsessed with every sidewalk crack. Every. Single. One. I wish I was exaggerating here, but sadly, I'm not. Sometimes it felt like it took us an hour to walk around the block or cross the street with all of her sleuth work.


She also had to investigate anything that was outside the normal "stuff" she investigated (like the grass, bushes and trees). This investigating mostly looked like smelling and sniffing, but sometimes it also turned into tasting. This is when I had to pay the most attention. Wrigley was always putting something into her mouth: dirt, ants, bits of trees, grass, dandelions (Wrigley LOVED dandelions - I wish the city would have hired her for the amount of them that she ate last summer), and anything else that looked good. Which was often trash, food waste and other items no one would want their puppy to put anywhere in her mouth. The problem was, she was fast!


If I wasn't paying attention to the world around us (i.e., the ground and sidewalk ahead), she'd have something she shouldn't in her mouth before I would even realize it. This meant that during our 25 trips outside to "do her thing" I had to PAY ATTENTION to Wrigley. The end. Nothing else. No talking on the phone, checking email, talking to another human on the sidewalk, nothing. If I did any of those things, my dog was eating rocks and twigs and goddess-knows what else. Which I would then need to pry out of her cheeks. I haven't mentioned yet that puppy teeth are crazy sharp, so this was not a fun way to spend my time. And so, I started paying better attention, and being in the present with my puppy.

This was great for us, as indicated by the amazing bond that we currently have. I also didn't need to take her to the vet for any emergency surgeries because she swallowed something she shouldn't. Granted, it also meant that any attempt to multi-task was out the window. I couldn't talk on the phone while walking my dog. Wrigley knew that all attention wasn't on her, and she would refuse to walk if I were on the phone.

She'd just lay down in the middle of the sidewalk, full bladder and all, waiting for me to be ready to walk her. My house is in a constant state of disarray and laundry is never folded because then I would be spending time on me . . . not my dog.

Yes, it sounds ridiculous, and it WAS ridiculous. And completely obnoxious. And a little bit sweet. And a ton annoying. But that's what my smart puppy has brought into my life. She forces me to be in the present, and if I'm not, and if I'm not playing with her or rubbing her belly or holding her paw while I'm reading a book, she's sad and annoyed and acts out. And because she's smart, she pays attention to what other things in our house matter to me, and she targets those items, because she knows it will get me to stop what I'm doing and give her attention. Her favorite go-to items are my shoes, because I will, in fact, stop washing the dishes or eating my dinner to save my shoes.

And so, I'm [thankfully] forced to live in the moment and be present when I'm with my puppy. Which hopefully has bled into the rest of my life. I'm clearly not perfect, and I can't spend all my time at home just sitting or playing with my dog, even though that's what she'd prefer, but I'm getting there. So I'm thankful that she has reminded me to Be Here Now.


These timely reminders, this one floated via facebook, are also helpful: http://www.reshareworthy.com/20-facts-for-dog-lovers/

No comments:

Post a Comment