I’m convinced my dog is a whiz at recognizing her shapes and colors.
Maggie, my eleven-year-old Miniature Schnauzer, does not eat the brown triangles in her food. She’ll pick out her favorite parts, usually the chunks of turkey or chicken, and the brown triangles are scattered all over the floor. Some days there is a long trail, while other days it looks like brown triangle subdivisions have popped up on the kitchen and hallway floors.
Occasionally Henry, my soon to be five-year-old Labradoodle-Beagle mix will help by eating some triangles off the floor, but mostly they remain on the floor until I pick them up. What goes uneaten during the day gets thrown back into the food bin and dished out the next day. With a new day, the cycle starts once again. I try to remedy this problem by buying different food made into other shapes, but I occasionally slip up at the store.
For anyone who has been blessed with a Miniature Schnauzer, you know they are the perfect combination of sassy and sweet. They love to cuddle and give you a piece of their mind when they deem necessary (which can be a lot). Maggie also loves to play and chase after the rabbits and cats who dare come into her tri-county territory.
When I first noticed the brown triangle issue, I tried to reason with Maggie, unsuccessfully of course. I was reminded of the scene in Turner & Hooch when Tom Hanks’ character made Hooch hamburgers with buns. Hooch was barking in the middle of the night, which woke Hanks up and he told Hooch to “eat the buns” if he was still hungry. I sympathized with Hanks’ character.
I have learned with dogs to go with the flow. Dogs, like people are who they are at a certain point, and they’re not going to change. Maggie is set in her ways and I embrace the brown triangles. I cherish everyday I have with my dogs because I know their lives are always too short. I also think about how blessed I am to be able to provide for my dogs in that Maggie is able to pick and choose what she wants to eat. A lot of dogs have to eat what they find and can’t be choosy (like a lot of people too, unfortunately). My advice to my fellow fur parents is to embrace your dog’s quirks because it makes for an interesting life.
Ever heard the expression,”Go take a hike?” Well, Saturday morning I took that advice to heart. I fixed a bottle of water, put on my hiking boots, grabbed my trusty walking stick, and drove to the park.
I have visited this park probably dozens times over the years along with my wife and our three dogs. This park is maintained beautifully and has numerous paved trails for people to walk and run, but I had to be different.
As I parked my truck and looked at the semi-wooded area in front of me, I thought of a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
I’m going to be a trailblazer.
I set off on my adventure, making my way through brush and tree limbs, crossing the creek in several places.
Then came the end of the line.
The creek serves as a natural boundary between the park and some private property. The “Private Property” and “No Trespassing” signs were my hint to turn around. I consider myself to have a good sense of direction and I followed the creek for a while longer until I decided to go back to the park.
While crossing the creek again, I slipped and fell in the water. Everything was wet, including my phone. Ugh! I thought this was supposed to be relaxing.
I make my way back up to the land and cross this field. The field ended up being full of thorn bushes. I sucked it up and walked through the field until I came to a clearing. By now, of course my legs look like Freddy Krueger sliced them up.
Now, I am sweaty, wet, dirty, and bloody. What a great adventure!
While I stood in the clearing to catch my breath, I saw a wooden bridge and made my way over there. Turns out it was private property. The elderly gentleman who owned the property was outside. As I start to make my way across the elderly man’s yard, I’m hoping he’s not one of those gun advocates who thinks he’s Clint Eastwood. I don’t want to get shot at. Underneath the elderly man’s truck sat this humongous dog who saw me. At this point, I don’t have the energy to run from this dog. Luckily, the dog didn’t bark or come after me nor did the elderly man say anything to me.
I came out to a two lane country road. I turned left and started hoofing it. My instincts served me well, as I just knew I was going the right way. I took the country road until it curved into a larger county road. As I walked down the county road, I pulled out my phone, which still worked, and typed “Pioneer Park” into Google Maps. I was only 0.3 miles from the park.
I chose wisely.
I finally get back to the park entrance, where I saw my truck. I drove off and headed for home. My phone is working just fine, I was safe, and heading for home. This little trip filled my adventure quota for a bit.
So my advice if you are ever in that situation, always keep in mind where your destination is and remain calm. Do not panic, remain calm. My hiking adventure served as a metaphor for life as there are many obstacles to face while on the way to your destination. Steady on.
“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”
– Charles de Gaulle
I love dogs, as my wife and I refer to our dogs, Maggie, Henry, and P.J. (who passed away in 2013), as our “fur babies.” I’ve often looked at my dogs and wondered how awesome it would be if they could talk and converse with us. What would they say? “Hey, we’ve been through this-I don’t like the brown triangles in my food.” “You gonna let me out or can I just go on the rug?” Or maybe they would vent their frustration by saying, “That little yapping dog next door gets on my nerves.”
If I may engage in a bit of whimsy, dogs already teach us a lot without saying a word. As evolved from their wolf ancestors, dogs, even as domesticated as they are, consider themselves as part of a pack. Besides the protection that comes from being a pack or family offers a place of acceptance and unconditional love. For me, the unconditional love is what is best about having a dog.
-Dogs don’t care what you do for a living or how much money you make.
-Dogs don’t care who you voted for or get upset when there’s political disagreement.
-Dogs don’t discriminate because of your skin color, age, background, religion, orientation or anything else we use to divide each other.
-Dogs teach us not to take things so seriously- just throw the ball, tug on the rope, go take a walk.
-Dogs are grateful for life’s little pleasures-some good food, clean water, a warm bed, and good company.
-Dogs teach us to stay alert to our surroundings.
-Dogs teach us the importance of frequent naps.
-Dogs use their limited years to get the most out of this life.
Maybe, just maybe it was the dog who domesticated us and not the other way around.
Triumphant In Christ 