Here's their action captured on my digital camera (notice all three are air born!):
Now, I've known this truth for quite some time, but today their intensity surprised me.
While tossing a "kong" with them ealier, their intensity was so great, their gallops so fast and blind to everything else, I thought they'd hurt each other, especially if they barrelled into each other or collided while retrieving the rubber dummy. All three shot after that kong as if they'd been catapulted from a cannon (nooooooo.... they're not competative...not in the least...hah!). All three took off in an air-born sprint. Each wanted to get to the toy first. Wow.
Even Baxter (our lumbering low-key kinda guy) sported a full-out sprint. There must be something in the air.
Now Baxter will run full-bore when he alone is retrieving (as in when he's training one-on-one with Don),
but when all three retrieve together he normally hangs back and lets the other two do the work (smart boy!). Notice Elsie (left, in this picture, in front of fence) and Ridge (above and to the right of Baxter) both searching out a retrieving toy while Baxter lounges on the grass.That's my boy!
Not today, though.
Hmmmmm. I wonder what's gotten into him. I guess even dogs have atypical days: times when normally lethargic personalities get it into gear or times when normally high-energy dogs need a low-key day.
Just like humans.
I'm usually a low-key (read "low-energy") gal, but, like the "kids" I can kick into high-energy productivity when I have to (or when I find the motiviation).
I used to wish I were a higher energy gal.
I sometimes wanted to sail through life like Baxter does when he's retrieving alone: focused, energetic, highly motivated, and productive.But then I realized I'd miss something. I'd miss the scenery along the way. I'd miss the little things: the small graces of life we see only when we take time to stop, rest, and be still.
I guess it's okay to be low-energy. It's fine to stop and lounge once and a while. The work still gets done, and life is fuller for the pause.
Here's to life's little pauses!
'Til next time,
Joan
3 comments:
There was a sad period there for me when my black lab passed, of missing her and wishing she had lived past almost 9 years. Then I ran across pictures I'd taken of her blasting across the back yard, and I knew it was ok. That was her at her most joyous. She delighted in sprinting from the farthest corner up to the back door, as fast as she could go.
I'm sorry to hear of your black lab's passing. We grieved Stoney and Strider much the same (our first two Labs; the current kids are our second batch). Nine years old seems young for a Lab lifespan. I'm sure you miss her.
Remembering the joyous times helps. That's why I like photos so much (even more than videos).
Have you gotten another Lab since?
Joan
Not another lab. I've rescued 2 over 50 pound lost princesses with their own vast needs, different challenges, and growing trust and total love! But, my ideal pack would be around 5 dogs: a male black Great Dane (Ivan the Terrible), a female black lab (Priscilla the Petit), a female brindle Greyhound (Sally the Swift), a male Basset (Billy), and a female black and white Shih Tzu (Shih Tzu, the Bless You). Good thing it's only imagination!!!!
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