Five months now since we were forced to say farewell to little loaf.
Now and then I get to hang with the neighbourhood's dogs of various styles and personalities. The one I most enjoy spending time with is the pug.
Today there was a plan of taking two dogs (a dachshund and a yorkshire terrier) for a walk and taking loads of pictures of said dogs. Instead I found myself accidently amidst the neighbourhood's dog ladies, walking. And the photo op bit was not really what I had wanted.
And I realised something, that one downside of having a dog, walking a dog is that you're kind of expected to be friendly and chatty with other dog owners (at least when you live in a suburban residential area). With whom you most often nothing whatsoever in common but the dog in a leash-part.
Sure there are dog owners in this neighbourhood that only nods and always walk alone (bliss!), and I have to say that I managed to avoid too close a contact with other dog walkers in the past, just the way I want it. If you don't walk with friends you have much in common with a dog walk for me is the perfect way to get some fresh air, exercise, solitary time to clear one's mind and think - and chat with the dog.
Spending time with friendly dogs is always lovely, but to be honest I often think it's too bad there are dog owners attached to the dogs. And to be even more honest, small talk about stuff that either is incredibly boring (to me), annoying or plain offensive is just energy draining a plenty.
I don't much care about the role one often has to play when meeting people you only know superficially, where you don't immediately click, the social codes, the patience one has to show while explaining a certain life-style/job/view to people who obviously have not bothered to widen their horizons. Their ways and my ways just aren't compatible.
Oh I don't know perhaps I'm sometimes too quick to *judge*, maybe I'm aloof, but I'm more and more guided by my gut feeling, the energy I have/give I want to spend in ways that I feel are mutually rewarding. Thus the older I get, the less inclined I am to put myself in situations that are highly likely to be energy draining like that - since there are so many other situations much more rewarding, inspirational and de-lovely to put oneself in.
And I also got to think that at this stage in my life, the initially thought of structurizing life sans dog was the right one - I still have the application at the dog shelter active though, but I'm sure when the time is right, the stars aligned towards a new doggie it will happen - to be honest with the months gone by I've come to realise that it has been less stressful knowing that there isn't a little soul at home waiting for a regular walk, that can't be alone for too many hours, that demands a lot more attention and stimulation than the cats. Liberating somehow. Needless to say the little hole in my heart and all the lovely memories of the tyke extraordinaire will be with me forever. But at this time in life this is exactly how it should be, simple as that.
I will not be doing any more neighbourhood dog walking any time soon, but this last one did gave me more insights (or confirmations of what I already knew, just like yesterday), thus it wasn't all that bad really, I suppose. And of course, I got to meet the tiniest little cuteheart named Mossa (Moss).
2 comments:
Maybe it's the type of dog, as owner of two large wolf-like dogs I find I can always walk in peace if I want to, few other owners approach despite the fact, as my son says to nervous owners of small dogs, "we always give them breakfast before we go out!"
"I often think it's too bad there are dog owners attached to the dogs." I smiled at that, because this is exactly what my Swedish partner thinks! He prefers the walk through the woods with just himself and the dog. I was much the same until I met a lovely neighbour who has two small dogs. Our dogs are great buddies and love to be together, so every morning we take them out for a couple of hours romp and Anders and I talk about everything under the sun. I guess we are all different. Although I do admit there are owners I avoid like the plague as well :-)
We lost our darling little white toy poodle in October 2011. I thought my heart and soul would break with sadness, so I really feel for you and the loss of little loaf. We only lasted two weeks without a dog - our home was just too quiet without that pitter patter of little claws on the hardwood floors. So we adopted a two year old Chinese Crested Powderpuff who needed a new home. And it feels as though she has always been a part of our life.
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