Crystal Clear Communication
Five canines have found their way in my heart and earthly life. But Bernard, Tootsie, Huey, Wink, and Cleavey didn’t hold a candle to our black puppy Daisy, who just turned one year old today.
Daisy is bar none the best dog I’ve had. Cuddly and gentle lying by my side, she flops her chin on my abdomen when I’m reading in bed. Daisy received the near non-stop hissing treatment from our elderly, now diseased cat Clarice, upon Daisy’s entry into our family and home. Yet, Daisy respects and welcomes Gianna’s new tabby one-year old cat Sarah by delicately sniffing and at times flipping her paws to ignite play. Daisy’s in-tune enough to back off when her curiosity is not reciprocated.
My major gripe about Daisy is that she pulls on the leash so hard it is unsafe for the kids to walk her, but that’s more about our negligent dog training than Daisy’s temperament. Daisy’s submissive and smart, a quick learner. We hesitated getting her because of the extra cost, but ultimately we’re without regrets.
However, our “free” puppy has actually been quite costly. To Daisy’s credit she has not tore up our stuff as was anticipated. She doesn’t carry herself like a dog who would tear up your belongings, which is what has made her a bit stealthily expensive.
Daisy’s calm demeanor and infrequent destructive chewing lulled me into not worrying about whether I closed my closet door or not, many times with no consequence. But every once and a while I would walk into my bedroom to see one of my favorite shoes ruinously mauled in the middle of the floor with Daisy calmly on the bed looking at me with very unremorseful eyes. Even the “bad dog” lecture didn’t phase her.
And in a few weeks I let my guard down and then, again. This time leaving my burgundy boots on my closet floor with the door opened. I couldn’t bear not to repair my black strappy sandals with gem stones on them even though the repair bill was as high as a new pair of shoes. The blue clogs were bad enough, but now my favorite boots were toast. Daisy got her teeth into my more expensive, but super comfortable and quality brown slip ons. The damage didn’t warrant pitching the pair and my pocket was starting to bleed.
I jumped on a post-Christmas sale that afforded me a pair of boots and two pairs of shoes for the price of one pair at Dillards. Within weeks, one of the boots and one of the clogs had distinct Daisy fang imprints. I resigned that they didn’t look that bad and continued wearing them. Perhaps I was setting a new fashion trend.
Flustered with Daisy, it dawned on me what was happening. It made me wonder which one of us was actually the dumb dog.
In my next blog, I’ll clue you into the crystal clear communication that my dog was sending and I wasn’t receiving. But for now, understand that the first step to crystal clear communication is paying attention.
The Catholic Women’s Guide to Healthy Relationships Tip: If something is working quite right in your relationship, pay attention to what else might be going on.
