or cry (Part B)
A) My home is situated in an older heritage part of the city with big yards and large trees which was a perfect fit for bringing a new German Shepherd puppy home in August. When the seasons changed into fall the canopy of trees that line the streets lighten to beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red. For residence in my community we wait for the windy days to blow all the leaves down to rake them up before the snow falls. It was a particularly sunny fall Saturday and I thought I would get a head start on this project so I gave myself a time limit - in 1 hour this yard will be cleaned and ready for snow. I made a few piles in the yard while my dog sniffed around and watched the changing landscape of the yard. I was very focussed and fixed on a timeline to get this task done. As soon as I turned my back on my dog she would dive head first into the leaves... at first I was upset, "this is going to take forever if the dumb dog keeps spreading the leaves all over the yard!" But then I looked at her little face sticking out from the middle of the pile and laughed, eventually I found myself laying in the grass and leaves with my little 4 month puppy having a great time. In life we tend to get busy and forget to take time to enjoy the moment.
B) In Alberta we are lucky to have a provincial holiday called Family Day in February, originally designed to provide an extra day off in the year to be with the ones you love. As a young single girl on this particular occasion I thought I would spend my day off with my 2 year old dog, Paris. It was sunny and warm for a mid-winter day so we piled into my vehicle and travelled to an off-leash park that we had never been to. I put the car into park in front of a seniors building along the street where I saw all the dogs, their owners and their families. It was going to be a great day! We entered the park and it was fast becoming my favorite day of 2008 so far. After about 2 hours of hiking in the beautiful trees and along the paths I was ready to leave. Paris realized her fun was ending and I could sense her walking further away from me and not coming when I called. This has happened before but I was not prepared for the drama that we were about to go through. No matter how much I tried to trick her, corner her, lure her or even turn around and fake that were still walking - she would not return to me to go home. After about 45 minutes of trying to catch her I heard sirens coming towards us. Did someone call the police on me?? A fire truck and an ambulance pulled up in front of the seniors building where my car was parked. I tried to keep Paris away from the commotion because they had their own crisis to deal with and didn't need a lose German Shepherd running around. I thought if I walked over to my car she would follow but she didn't, one of the fire men was sitting in the truck watching my frustration increase. I decided that I would get in my car to move it closer to where the park entry was and away from the emergency vehicles. Perhaps my dog would see me driving that she would come over and hop in. My plan did not work out. As soon as I got in my vehicle the emergency personnel were wheeling the gurney out with an elderly woman on it and Paris was right in the middle barking. I slammed on my brakes, through my car into park and jumped out to help divert her away. She was still up to her tricks and 3 firemen were involved at this point trying to help me get her under control. Eventually she stopped and sat in the middle of the road with her ears back, I was able to clip the leash onto her collar and drag her into the car. I thanked the firemen for their help, got into my car and burst out crying. How did that go so terribly wrong? What could I have done differently? It was so overwhelming to me, I cried all the way home when I started talking about it later with a friend I just bawled. The fun and enjoyable 2 hours walk was forgotten by the 2 hours of chasing and drama that resulted at the end. The next day I logged onto http://www.bradpattison.com/ and signed up for his seminar for the coming weekend. I don't have a temper but I just felt so helpless, powerless and out of control. I truly was at the end of my leash!
A) My home is situated in an older heritage part of the city with big yards and large trees which was a perfect fit for bringing a new German Shepherd puppy home in August. When the seasons changed into fall the canopy of trees that line the streets lighten to beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red. For residence in my community we wait for the windy days to blow all the leaves down to rake them up before the snow falls. It was a particularly sunny fall Saturday and I thought I would get a head start on this project so I gave myself a time limit - in 1 hour this yard will be cleaned and ready for snow. I made a few piles in the yard while my dog sniffed around and watched the changing landscape of the yard. I was very focussed and fixed on a timeline to get this task done. As soon as I turned my back on my dog she would dive head first into the leaves... at first I was upset, "this is going to take forever if the dumb dog keeps spreading the leaves all over the yard!" But then I looked at her little face sticking out from the middle of the pile and laughed, eventually I found myself laying in the grass and leaves with my little 4 month puppy having a great time. In life we tend to get busy and forget to take time to enjoy the moment.
B) In Alberta we are lucky to have a provincial holiday called Family Day in February, originally designed to provide an extra day off in the year to be with the ones you love. As a young single girl on this particular occasion I thought I would spend my day off with my 2 year old dog, Paris. It was sunny and warm for a mid-winter day so we piled into my vehicle and travelled to an off-leash park that we had never been to. I put the car into park in front of a seniors building along the street where I saw all the dogs, their owners and their families. It was going to be a great day! We entered the park and it was fast becoming my favorite day of 2008 so far. After about 2 hours of hiking in the beautiful trees and along the paths I was ready to leave. Paris realized her fun was ending and I could sense her walking further away from me and not coming when I called. This has happened before but I was not prepared for the drama that we were about to go through. No matter how much I tried to trick her, corner her, lure her or even turn around and fake that were still walking - she would not return to me to go home. After about 45 minutes of trying to catch her I heard sirens coming towards us. Did someone call the police on me?? A fire truck and an ambulance pulled up in front of the seniors building where my car was parked. I tried to keep Paris away from the commotion because they had their own crisis to deal with and didn't need a lose German Shepherd running around. I thought if I walked over to my car she would follow but she didn't, one of the fire men was sitting in the truck watching my frustration increase. I decided that I would get in my car to move it closer to where the park entry was and away from the emergency vehicles. Perhaps my dog would see me driving that she would come over and hop in. My plan did not work out. As soon as I got in my vehicle the emergency personnel were wheeling the gurney out with an elderly woman on it and Paris was right in the middle barking. I slammed on my brakes, through my car into park and jumped out to help divert her away. She was still up to her tricks and 3 firemen were involved at this point trying to help me get her under control. Eventually she stopped and sat in the middle of the road with her ears back, I was able to clip the leash onto her collar and drag her into the car. I thanked the firemen for their help, got into my car and burst out crying. How did that go so terribly wrong? What could I have done differently? It was so overwhelming to me, I cried all the way home when I started talking about it later with a friend I just bawled. The fun and enjoyable 2 hours walk was forgotten by the 2 hours of chasing and drama that resulted at the end. The next day I logged onto http://www.bradpattison.com/ and signed up for his seminar for the coming weekend. I don't have a temper but I just felt so helpless, powerless and out of control. I truly was at the end of my leash!
1 comment:
I am exited you are posting more! YAY!
Aw your family day sounds surreal! I hate that when you are enjoying yourself and a moment so so much and suddenly it turns sour. JUST LIKE THAT! I am sorry you had such a frustrating time with Paris. Hey the one positive is that it made for a good story. And just incase you were wondering... they don't celebrate Family Day in vancouver....or BC for that matter. So I didn't even have the day off! I feel jipped! I guess family isn't important here. POOP.
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