Gone to the dogs

I spent a pleasant afternoon running errands with my mom yesterday, and one of our stops was Feeders Supply. Mom and I both have dogs. Hers is a 6-year-old Japanese Chin. Bridget is a pushy little bitch, but that’s true of any alpha female, canine or otherwise. She is sweet and sassy, and my mom is really attached to her.

I think she would say the same thing about me, but I digress.

Anyhoo, I have two very spoiled little pups, Charlie and Sam, aka Sammi Sue (see photo at left). They have the same mom and dad but came from different litters, two years apart. Their breed is what I call a fancy mix, because it’s trendy though not yet recognized by the AKC. As “Teddy Bears,” they have Shih Tzu and Bichon Frise in them. I am willing to bet they have terrier or something else in there, too. All I know for certain is that they are damn cute.

---

I have one son who is 17 years old, 5’10” and nearly out of my nest, so Sam and Charlie have become my babies. I am putty in their paws….they get  to do pretty much whatever they want, and it irritates the hell out of most of my friends. I make no apologies…. I adore those damn dogs.

My little angels were out of chew toys and treats, so the need to restock brought Mom and I into Feeders. As we wandered around the store, we came upon one of the rescue dogs the Kentucky Humane Society had on display, hoping to garner some interest in his adoption. “Porky” is a 2-year-old Pekinese mix with the saddest eyes you’ve ever seen.

Needless to say, Mom and I fell in love with the little stinker, and we started to talk about whether Bridget could use a companion. Sam and Charlie are best buddies, and knowing they always have each other makes me feel less guilty about leaving them home alone.

The idea of adding Porky to Mom’s household brought up some questions. Would Pushy Bitch/Alpha Female Bridget welcome a new dog into her home? Would they get along or would we simply be the purveyors of a lifelong dog fight? (Bridget loves it when my dogs come to visit, but I think she is also really glad when they leave.)

We also wondered aloud how the new dog would adjust. We needed to know if he is house-trained, and if he’s a territory “marker” or a “humper.”  My little Charlie had been both a marker and a humper, and these tendencies didn’t abate until a few months after he’d been neutered. Bridget didn’t take kindly to getting humped, and my mom wasn’t a fan of Charlie marking the corner of her couch as “his” territory.

The rescue dog, Porky, had been neutered when he came to the Humane Society a few weeks ago, so he was still hyped up on testosterone. When we came back to introduce Bridget to him today, we determined that he is definitely still a humper. Something else we hadn't thought about....he's also a derriere sniffer. Bridget got a little annoyed, but they seemed to get along OK. We decided that most of our questions couldn’t be answered with any degree of certainty until we brought him into her home.

But my mom decided she wasn’t ready for that. Bridget would have probably been fine with it, but Mom wasn’t quite ready for the responsibility and commitment. I was disappointed, but I completely understand. Porky should have no problem getting adopted. He is so cute and sweet. I would have taken him if I didn’t already have two dogs of my own...Three would be a crowd in my Highlands bungalow.

For Mom, adopting Porky just didn’t feel right to her, and I have to respect that.

When it comes to dogs, you can do all kinds of research and ask a thousand questions, but you don’t really know what you’re getting until you bring them home. (The same can be said of a lot of people, too!)  For me, I knew that Sam and Charlie were meant to be mine the second I saw them. When it’s right, it’s right. They have their own little personality quirks that drive me crazy sometimes, but overall they are the perfect dogs for me.

Believe it or not, this got me thinking about my new business. I can research, plan and lay down all kinds of groundwork, but at some point, I have to let go. I have to trust my gut when it comes to growing this business, including what clients or projects to accept or turn down. I also have to trust that when it’s time to take this thing full time, I will know it.

If it feels right, it’s right. And if not….well, it's not. And that's OK.