The only way to learn

I think that Rudolph is getting an addition nickname besides just Rudy.   “The Mugger” seems fitting as we probably mugged people for 15-20 treats tonight.  This guy has done the math.  Sit = Treat.   So, we find someone else walking a dog in the park.   We get right in their face.   We look menacing….then sit and get all puppy faced.   This usually equates to the person saying something along the lines of “You’re such a good boy” and then a reach into the pocket produces a treat for Rudy.   As his accomplice, I just smile and agree with the person and then we head on down the path to find our next victim.   He has it down to a science.   One smooth operator…...and me.   I love it.

We started off walking with Zoey again.   We met some other dogs along the way.   Talked with other people.   After a while (and a few flat out sprints), I noticed that Rudy was going on his own a bit.   So, I went with it.   We walked together.   We stopped for a photo opportunity and kisses (I did not return them) in a picnic shelter.   We hung out.   We chatted (no surprise that I did most of the talking).   We didn’t just do mindless laps around a park.   We did stuff together.   When we got back at the end of the walk, we sat on the curb for a bit and just hung out.   It was awesome.   Just a couple of guys sittin’ around.      

I really wish that parts of my current situation were a bit different.   This is one great dog.   I often wonder how he and Irving would get along together and If I could run with them both.   The more time I spend, the more I like him.   The more I like him, the more difficult it becomes to leave at the end of the evening.   Part of this is because of the fact that Rudolph always has a way of pushing me to learn more.   I’ve walked with him 8 or 9 times and at this point, you’d think that as a younger dog, he’d be out of lessons for me.   He’s not.   He never fails to teach me something.

 

When I showed up, I had an agenda of walking around the park in mind with a cool dog and by thinking that, I forgot about how much this hour means to him every week.   It’s his time to get out and do things.   Think about the things that you want to do every week.   Imagine having to fit all of that into one hour.   Could you?    What if you only got one hour per week to get out and “play”.   It took a while for me to figure this out.   He wanted to do things and I needed to facilitate that.   I straightened up.   We made sure that we sniffed trees.   We ran.    We walked in totally random directions.   We had a great time.   

Listen.   That’s the only way to figure out what you need to do.