One Widow and Her Lab
PART One
Background noise at my house includes scratching, licking, and the occasional squeak of a dog toy. A quiet warning growl followed by an alarmed leap of dog-body in my peripheral vision. A light yellow flash of 70 pounds of athletic animal leaping through the doggie door; flying full speed ahead. A show-off’s exaggerated sentry march. Run full speed ahead, make a hairpin left turn at full throttle and hit the Spruce tree (woof! woof!). Quick turn to the right toward the wood pile (woof! woof!). Skim by the fence where the pesky midget dogs emit their silly yaps. All the while with an eye pealed on Mom who is (hopefully) fully impressed with the drill.
Everything about Indy has been a happy accident. Her goat-like jump when she is excited, paired with the part of her brain that remembers she must not jump on her owner, creates leaps of joy into midair about three foot away from her mistress.
Movement in my home equals dog plus human. If she could talk she’d say, Okay…we’re going here now! Or, oops! Mom is on the move! I repeat, mom on the move!
From her deer-like trot when she’s in a carefree, no-one-is-watching kind of mood, to her smart lab-brain that can still learn new things at age three, she is a force of nature daily; that is, when she is not emitting long, deep snores when sleeping.
Mom was a widow in need of a companion. Indy was an 11 week-old pup needing a forever home.
We were made for each other.
Indy was born into a Covid-rehoming window of life at the same time I was learning to cope with life as a new widow. Her original human parents picked her up from her litter in Arizona and drove her to cool, trendy La Jolla, California. Indy’s daddy is a sturdy manly-man Lab named Chase (maybe the yard patrol routine is genetics?) and her mom a taller pure white Lab.
Indy’s origin story offers the slim overview of the sweet puppy below; a story strong on cute and slim on the hard parts.
This sweet face is just one part of this story.
Getting a dog should be more than just thinking that they’re cute or thinking that they’ll solve your boredom. You need to ask yourself why you want a dog. They deserve and require a lot of attention, love, and affection so adoption should not be taken lightly. Adopting a dog may not solve all of your problems, but it sure can help. Dogs can make living alone easier and fill your home with warmth.
https://www.oriliving.com/blog/should-i-get-a-dog-if-i-live-alone#:~:text=Dogs%20can%20make%20living%20alone,making%20decisions%20for%20only%20yourself.
Is there a widow-pet in your future?
What are the benefits?
What are the risks?
In the next two weeks we’ll take a closer look.
