Dog Years
I brought Polly home from her breeder at just seven weeks of age, an armful of beautiful chunky puppy, wriggly and playful but from day one, determined to enjoy life her own sweet way. She was my first Golden Retriever and I remember the breeder advising me not to let her dictate our route on walks, a trait familiar to most Golden owners!
In fact, Polly was a lesson in everything I needed to learn about owning a Golden Retriever. She was a sturdy showgirl and from the very first day, it became clear she knew her own mind. We signed up for obedience classes when Polly was six months old. Six months with my girl had shown me I was in need of help if my big bolshy dog was ever to become a polite citizen. In class, it was usually Polly who decided it was more fun to run free rather than sit and stay, gleefully reminding me (not to mention the entire class!) of my dog handling inadequacies... but we perserved. Out of class she taught me how important recall training would be to us both, usually by racing to say hello to a fellow dog, cyclist, leaf... with me in hot pursuit! Thankfully, slowly but surely, my bossy big girl matured into a dog admired by other owners, a dog I could walk with and be extremely proud of. She learned lead skills, tricks, recalls, a dictionary of verbal cues and hand signals, how to behave in crowds, cafes, town centres, even on trains, steps and narrow cliff paths... and I learned that my girl was the most loyal and amazingly clever dog. I also learned that the stubborn streak, so evident on our very first day together, is part of Polly's inherent nature, so something to work with, rather than fight against.
We have walked many, many miles together through all weathers over the years and shared all manner of adventures. I feel privileged to have had such a loyal, unquestioning friend by my side to navigate life with. Now that Polly is growing older, I am aware of the frailties that come with age. Our walks have become shorter, slower and sometimes, even a little wobbly and stairs will be a joint effort between Polly and myself, for as long as she still wants to climb them at night to be with me. Twelve years in dog years makes Polly eight-four years old in human terms, so we live in the moment. I am grateful for sunshine walks and each day that we are able to step out, side by side.
Happiest of Big Birthdays to you my beautiful Big Bird. xxx
In fact, Polly was a lesson in everything I needed to learn about owning a Golden Retriever. She was a sturdy showgirl and from the very first day, it became clear she knew her own mind. We signed up for obedience classes when Polly was six months old. Six months with my girl had shown me I was in need of help if my big bolshy dog was ever to become a polite citizen. In class, it was usually Polly who decided it was more fun to run free rather than sit and stay, gleefully reminding me (not to mention the entire class!) of my dog handling inadequacies... but we perserved. Out of class she taught me how important recall training would be to us both, usually by racing to say hello to a fellow dog, cyclist, leaf... with me in hot pursuit! Thankfully, slowly but surely, my bossy big girl matured into a dog admired by other owners, a dog I could walk with and be extremely proud of. She learned lead skills, tricks, recalls, a dictionary of verbal cues and hand signals, how to behave in crowds, cafes, town centres, even on trains, steps and narrow cliff paths... and I learned that my girl was the most loyal and amazingly clever dog. I also learned that the stubborn streak, so evident on our very first day together, is part of Polly's inherent nature, so something to work with, rather than fight against.
We have walked many, many miles together through all weathers over the years and shared all manner of adventures. I feel privileged to have had such a loyal, unquestioning friend by my side to navigate life with. Now that Polly is growing older, I am aware of the frailties that come with age. Our walks have become shorter, slower and sometimes, even a little wobbly and stairs will be a joint effort between Polly and myself, for as long as she still wants to climb them at night to be with me. Twelve years in dog years makes Polly eight-four years old in human terms, so we live in the moment. I am grateful for sunshine walks and each day that we are able to step out, side by side.
Happiest of Big Birthdays to you my beautiful Big Bird. xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for visiting my blog, I hope you enjoyed the read!