On Vacation

Over Christmas my husband and I traveled to visit his family in Peru.  Aggie, of course, could not come without a lot of expense both monetarily and emotionally.  My mother graciously offered to take her in despite my father's skepticism.

I knew my parents would not do even half of the training I did with her every day.  A lot of this training I considered necessary as she was still learning how live with humans and act appropriately (I still believe she was raised in a backyard with a bunch of pits).  However, much of the training revolved around things I wanted to learn how to do as a trainer.  So I was curious to see how she would do in an environment with less stimulating interaction with humans.

Reports via email came streaming in about how good Aggie was behaving.  As it turns out, when Aggie was left to her own devises, she tended to sleep more and find perfectly acceptable pastimes such as monitoring the backyard for uninvited vermin (she actually caught a possum according to my mom, but was unsure as to the next step once it was in her mouth).*

Since we've gotten back from vacation, I've been fairly busy and haven't done much formal training with Aggie.  It's also been frigid here in Indiana, and Aggie has no interest in venturing outside.  So her world has become considerably more limited since before the Vacation.  She seems fine with it!  She's a couch potato at heart.  Her daily winter schedule, could she choose, would look like this:

7am:  Exit kennel, use the bathroom

7:03am:  Move to favorite chair and sleep until noon

12pm:  Play with Naomi for several hours

3pm(ish):  Short nap in the favorite chair or on couch with Naomi

3:30pm(ish):  Play with Naomi for several hours until Dad arrives home, play with Dad

7pm:  Sleep in the favorite chair until moved to kennel to continue sleeping

Honestly, this dog is only active for about 6 hours per day, and if it were up to her, she would never leave the house.  This is not the dog I signed up for!  I imagined competing in agility and obedience, taking long walks in a variety of locations every weekend, and training voluntary, cooperative behaviors at the vet clinic.  Not sitting around half the day, then playing fetch or tug-of-war the rest of the day.  But this is my dog.  I'm willing to bet that if she could have picked, I would not have been the owner of her dreams either.

Camping in the chilly Fall weather.  Not one of Aggie's favorite things.

That being said, we have a bond.  I missed her while I was in Peru, and she seemed quite excited to see me upon my return.  I feel strong affection towards her, and lord help anyone who tries to physically harm me if Aggie's near by.  Maybe we won't fulfill my longing to compete or explore the world together, but we are family.  If this vacation did anything for me, it allowed me to realize that just as she has accepted me for who I am, I need to accept her for who she is.  A couch potato.

The Favorite Chair

*She ended up listening to my mom who somehow convinced her that the next step was the let the seemingly unharmed possum go.