Boy oh boy, just when things are quiet and peaceful in my life, Doc scares me into thinking that a big change is coming.
It all started last Friday night. On the fourth Friday of each month, our suburb closes down the streets of the downtown area and hosts what would be best described as a big block party. There are typically lots of food trucks, street musicians, vendors selling their wares and this time there was even a person juggling fire sticks right in the main intersection. Dogs are always welcome and Doc takes me along because by now all of you know that I am always ready for a good time. We were sauntering along taking everything in when all of the sudden Doc spots something out of the corner of her eye and then exclaims loudly ” Oh! Would you look at that Grover, so sweet!” she exclaims while practically dragging me by the collar toward whatever it is she is trying to see. When I finally spy what she is cooing about I am surprised to see a whole pen full of cute, wiggly, high energy puppies vying for attention. As soon as Doc reached down into the pen they were all over her. And what made matters worse is that they were all up for adoption from the shelter that was taking care of them. ” Uh oh” I said out loud. This could be big trouble for me.
As I stood by helplessly watching Doc love on those puppies, a wave of anxiety filled my brain. What if she wants to bring one or two them home with us? Those little things have too much energy and I really don’t want to be bothered with a new baby brother or sister that will do nothing but bring havoc into my peaceful existence. Truth be said, I like being an only child. So, because I was jealous, I knew I needed to make my move to preserve my tranquil life. When I thought Doc wasn’t watching, I moved toward the pen and gave those puppies a piece of my mind in the language I knew they would understand. I looked at all of them in the eye and let out my deepest and scariest growl. It worked, they backed away immediately. ” Now who’s the big dog? I said to them proudly. My big ego moment was loudly interrupted when I head Doc’s stern voice.” Grover! What is wrong with you scaring a bunch of homeless puppies? Haven’t I taught you better than that? Now you go back over there and be nice to those little babies.”
Oh no. I was ashamed of my behavior after Doc scolded me. She was right. Those poor little puppies have been through enough and need to come to a good home like ours. I looked up at Doc and said without hesitation ” Lets adopt all five of them. I can help take care of them Doc and I will even share my toys. ” Doc looked back at me with a look of horror. ” Adopt five puppies? What are you thinking Grover, we are not even bringing one home today.” I have to admit, when she said that I breathed a sigh of relief. Then Doc being the forgiving sort, took me across the street and bought me a pup cup at the ice cream store so we could talk everything over.
So, what do I think about everything that happened on Friday night? Most importantly, this old dog learned a good life lesson . All of the drama could have been avoided if I would only have asked more questions instead of jumping to conclusions and acting on my fears. A valuable thing for this dog to remember.