Changes

You know, dogs put up with a lot.  Even in a household where they're loved and well cared for, which I'd like to think I qualify.  But, think about it, no one asks their opinion on their food.  I asked other humans about what's best.  No one asked them to weigh in when we were looking for a new house.  Part of the reason we chose it was the expansive yard and the access to it would be better for Ripley, who I knew would be handicapped always (but didn't expect to lose so soon after we got here).  We didn't ask Rooney and Geddy when we added Sirius to the family - we just assumed they'd bond.  They did.  I didn't ask them what they wanted to do this morning, I just did my routine, and they followed me around.

But they're thinking, feeling creatures, which is why we keep them as companion animals, so it's safe to assume they have opinions on things.  Consider that your dog probably has a favorite toy or a favorite spot on the couch.  See?  He or she has a preference and an opinion on what's most fun to play with.

If you're with me on that, than it's natural to assume they have an opinion on change.  And can they understand change?

Since we moved in to this house a little over two years ago, change has been an almost constant companion.  As a matter of fact, I was lamenting to myself the other day that I can't recall a steady, quiet time since I've been here.  There have been "moments" like this one where I'm sitting on the front porch surrounded by the dogs with my cup of coffee, but not a steady state of normalcy.  That sounds like a complaint.  But not all the changes were bad.  Some were quite amazing.  Of course, the largest one, and the most welcome, was the birth of Baby H, which is the big reason for the house purchase in the first place.  Others, like happens to all families, were not so welcome.  The most bitter, of course, was losing Ripley, who fought so hard against canine Lupus.  I miss her intensely.

I recognize that life ebbs and flows for humans, but we've had more than our fair share of turmoil in the last two years.  I'll be frank and tell you: I'd like a little more time to sit on this porch and do nothing but contemplate the day unfurling in front of me.  Yet, the dogs, I have to say, have rolled with it all.  They are, however, being put through their biggest test to-date.

There are major changes afoot for us, and while I work to prepare for them, it's not lost on me that they will impact the dogs too, and I have to be ready to help them with it.

First big change, which I think may have just sunk in to a degree yesterday is that Baby H no longer lives with us.  He and his mom now rent a modest townhome right around the corner from us, but it's still not right here.  I think that change would be a big one for the dogs, but because they're so close and still trying to get settled in, with a lot of their things still here, I'm not sure the dogs really knew they were "gone".  Until yesterday, as I mentioned, when I was working on painting what had been the nursery, and they got a look at the empty room for the first time.

It was hard to tell what they were thinking.  Geddy seemed confused.  Rooney was Rooney.  But Sirius was visibly upset.  He was walking around aimlessly whining.  And it's hard to tell why.  I was still in the prep stage when we let them up there, so it wasn't paint fumes.  They'd never spent a lot of time in there, because it's very hard for a dog to tell a human stuffy from a dog toy and, well, I have a few stuffed animals sitting in my office waiting to be repaired...  But they knew it was where Baby H originated from every morning and disappeared to at night.  I'm sure his smell was still in the room, but there was no small human to match it.

But we're hardly done.  I was painting it to get ready to move my bedroom there, so my mother-in-law can move in with us and take my ground floor bedroom.  So, over the next two weeks, I will be frantically trying to fit all my clothes (another reason this house had a major appeal was the custom closet space in the master bedroom) into less than half the space - and yes, before you go there, I did cull some out...then I bought a Smith-Schuster jersey and new Steelers Nikes.  Oh, and a new sweatshirt.  I have issues.  Then I have to paint my old room and get it ready for all her furniture and things so she can feel at home in a state she's only visited before, and we're the only people she knows.

And did I mention she's bringing her cat?

The dogs are sitting here this morning, in the peaceful calm of the morning not at all knowing what's coming.  Not that it's a bad thing coming - the ability to step up and help one's family is, I know, a great gift to be able to give.  But she's frail and needs assistance to get around - big dogs in her way can be problematic.  Their lives will change as a result.  I'm pretty sure I can balance their comfort with hers, but they will need to learn how not to get underfoot.  And immediately.  And how do I prepare them for it?

There's no advance preparation for it completely.  There's no practice I can do with them really (I'd bring in neighborhood cat maybe, but have I mentioned before this neighborhood seems oddly devoid of cats). I can't talk to them about it in a way they will understand.  I'm going to have to trust in their continued ability to simply adapt and learn.

And I'm going to have to accept there will be some consequences.  Last night, when I took a dinner break from painting, Sirius came out here with me, lifted his leg and anointed my fern.  He has never done that before.  I think I got my comment on just what he thought of all Baby H's things disappearing.

But one thing I know about dogs.  They roll with changes with a grace that we humans could do well to emulate.  Stay tuned for how this all goes, but I'm going into it with confidence that they'll figure it out way before I do.