Me and my dog? Dogs …and kids………..you gotta love them. This dog, Cabela, has graced us with her presence. My son has dreamed of having a dog that was “trainable.” Well, Cabela is trainable, but seriously – where’s Chase going to get the time to do it right? So now we are looking at shipping her off to a trainer for a few months. This THOUGHT alone, makes all 3 children tear up. Mom……….is slowly drying her eyes.
Cabela has the sweetest disposition………VERY active, and still a bit nippy. You can see from her photo here that she’s grown a bit since the last I wrote of her. As I begin to think about shipping her off at 4 1/2 months old, I see something like this tonight. Chase (16) laying on the floor in the foyer, with his “Me and My Dog” shirt on from “Cabela’s” – yes, the hunting store. Cabela was absolutely mauling him with her tongue and he was rolling around like a 4 year old in the grass on a summer day. And I’m thinking, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt, right?” Such a mom thought. They rolled around on the floor for almost 30 minutes until the puppy almost passed out, and the teenager almost fell asleep. And I went and got the camera.
How can we send a dog off for multiple months? Maybe she’s smart enough to get it done in one month, but wow, at the rate she’s growing, she’ll be GI-FREAKIN-NORMOUS when she comes home and that makes everyone sad. HOWEVER………….isn’t sort of a trade off to be able to take your dog somewhere and have her LISTEN…? If we truly want her to hunt, this has to happen. And now……..she is so fast, we can barely run her down if she gets out. And that’s the KIDS trying to run her down, not me – ha! She terrorizes the little people on the street because she gets SO excited and jumps up on them – they can’t remember to say down (which she knows by the way).
On the topic of discipline, one of my friends posted on Facebook that she doesn’t like other peoples’ kids. I agree. Some kids (and dogs) are just not being taught manners. NONE. Zippo. I really think parents might be taking the easy way out and entertaining kids with phones, DS’s, Ipods, and other odds and ends of electronic items. I’m guilty of it to a certain extent, but these kiddos need some discipline and manners. Kind of like this dog. If parents took 15 minutes a day (the length of time it takes a dog to learn a trick and then have it reinforced), with their kids – to talk to them, lead them ……… how many parents actually spend an entire 15 minutes a day TOTALLY giving their attention to ONE of their kids? Seriously. No phones, no computers, no tv’s, not cooking dinner………..just talking to their kid. I really think the numbers of parents realizing that they do NO WHERE CLOSE to this would be astounding and some parents would feel bad. Man – I feel bad that I don’t walk the dog enough or teach her enough on a daily basis.
We were very lucky to have a GREAT vet, Dr. Sandy Seaman, at Lexington Animal Hospital. I remember one day, when I was in with our miniature cocker spaniel AND my then 6 month old (playing the drop the toy game – we had a 3 drop rule), and Dr. Seaman said, “Just remember, your dog needs your love and discipline too. 15 minutes a day of TOTAL love.” WOW…….from a vet. Why aren’t pediatricians telling parents this? Huh?
I guess now, in my 40’s, I can say I’m thankful that my parents taught me some manners and some discipline. I’m worried about how this current generation of elementary school kids are going to be when it’s time to get a real job (and to leave home). Especially with parents paying for their kids to “travel” for 3-5 years post-college, to “experience life.” Just saw that one on the Today Show. I’m thinking the industry to be in is going to be law. I think these kids are going to need good, civil lawyers. With the already “sue-happy” world we live in, these kids are going to want to sue people for every little personal injury or thing that happens to them. OK – not ALL kids are going to be like this, but it’s a different world out there from when I was young. These kids don’t work, they do “activities.” Some don’t do anything but “hang.” I want to just “hang.” Hey – maybe just hang with my dog……
I know I just tied dogs to kids, and if you really stop laughing long enough to think about it, it makes sense. We all need to slow down, enjoy our kids (and our dogs), and make sure EVERYONE is learning something! Especially discipline and manners…………..