Finding my way in the world and other adventures
 
Old dogs, new tricks?

Old dogs, new tricks?


 

For the month of January, I’ve committed to posting every day, having accepted the 30-day challenge.
This is day 27 of 30.

 

Trick #1

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Belle, not begging

Belle isn’t exactly a beggar, but she will sit and very closely keep watch over your food for you. You know, just in case it tries to escape or something. She’s loyal like that. So, I usually eat in the family room (yes, in front of the TV, what of it?) with my food on the coffee table and on a placemat (I’m not a savage). Well, last week she figured something out — if she puts her paw on the placemat that has the food and pulls her paw towards her, the food magically gets closer to her as well. As if fate wanted her to have it. The best part is that she’ll stare at me the entire time she’s doing it, as if daring me to stop her (which I do, I’m still the alpha dog in the house … well, mostly…). Like if she gets it in front of her, it’s okay for her to take a lick or two. We’re sharing, right?

Trick #2

I get up early, I go to work, I work hard (or hardly work) and then I get home and I’m ready for a nap. My theory has always been that if I’m to train, I mustn’t sit down or get comfortable in any way because I’ll still be sitting there when bedtime comes around. And I’ve kept to that, plodding through training half asleep hoping that the sting of sweat in my eyes will force me awake. It sometimes works.

The other day I was beyond tired. I was that kind of tired where if people didn’t know better they might think I was drunk because of the stumbling and walking into walls. But I had a run on the schedule (and a half marathon that I had just signed up for). I fought a mental battle: run? sleep? eat? rest?  I finally decided that the run wasn’t going to happen without a little rest so I got comfortable on the couch and set my alarm for 30 minutes. I never fell fully asleep and when the alarm went off I was still kind of sludgey (that’s a word … well, it is now), but I got up and by the time I changed into my magic running tights, I felt a ton better.  What do you know — I got home from work, took a nap, felt at least somewhat rejuvenated and turned what would have been an awful get-through-it run into something almost pleasurable.

Old dogs. New tricks. Totally possible.

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