Hi, Jackson here. Fall has arrived. Much better weather for us pooches. Cooler days lounging outside giving chase every now and then and soaking up the sun when the sun is not so hot. Time passes quickly.
It gives me pause (paws?) to stop and think. The other day, mom said to someone “He’s come a long way.” They were looking at me so I assumed they were talking about me (I am a great topic of discussion although I don’t like to brag or anything). I don’t think she meant that I’d come a long way because I came from Kentucky so I had to give it some thought.
I mentioned in a previous J-Log that I’m not much of a lap dog. Well, actually, I am not a lap dog at all. When I think back to when I came to my forever home, I was a completely ‘don’t touch me’ kind of guy. I didn’t do stairs or hallways and definitely don’t reach out to grab me. I was young and small, but street smart. When you’re street smart, you’re out scrounging to find food and you definitely don’t want anyone grabbing you because you don’t know what they will do to you. Occasionally, you get a foot in your butt to ‘shoo’ or ‘scoot’ or ‘get outta here’ – some humans are just not friendly.
You don’t forget these things when you are all of a sudden around friendly humans who want so much to love you and help you and hold you. Nope. You’re still running on street smarts. For some reason, though, these friendly humans (including mom) are patient and don’t push. They let me be me. And because of that, I started thinking that maybe it was okay to get close, to be petted, to have my butt scratched. Plus I watched my besties with my mom. They always want cuddles and pets and belly scratches. They really liked it and it looked kind of nice and I could tell it made them really happy.
So now I’m okay with pets and scratches, but I still don’t like to be grabbed. And I’m okay with stairs, but learning that was really scary. Do you know what it looks like when you’re staring down fifteen stairs and your legs are only six inches long? Noooo way am I doing that! When you put me at the bottom, I can run up, but going down – nope. But then mom started me on stair 4 and I went down okay (with a BACB Roll Over and Beg Bite waiting for me at the bottom!). After a while, it was stair 7, then 10, then all 15. I was happy, mom was happy and my besties were happy because now we could go out the front door to play in a whole new world (the front yard, more squirrels)!
As for hallways, well, they still aren’t my favorite. The walls are too close, there aren’t enough escape routes, I just don’t like feeling closed in. I can go down a hallway, but I’m running and not stopping!
I guess I have come a long way. I could say the same for mom, too. She wanted me to be a lap dog, to cuddle with her on the couch after a day of baking. But she realized that wasn’t who I am (at least for now). She wants me to be me and be happy so she is okay that I just sit beside her every once in a while for cuddles and pets. It’s all good.
Until next time; gotta run…
Janet McKay says
I just finished reading the J- Log with tears in my eyes. What a day brightener. I am glad Jackson found his way home. He has the best home he could ever want. A loving and understanding Mom, a brother and sister to teach him the ropes, woods to play in and squirrels to catch.
Life is good.