The older I get, the better I become at accepting reality. I’d like to chalk this up to wisdom and maturity, but the real reasons behind this change are my mistakes and failures.
Lately, with my shoulder injury, I’ve had lots of problems handling my two dogs when walking them. They pull a lot. They go ballistic whenever they see anyone on a bike, scooter, motorcycle or e-bike. During these frenzied episodes, I struggle to control them without aggravating my shoulder injury. Even in the best of times, it’s a frustrating experience for all of us.
I do my best to avoid kids, biking paths, busy traffic times and popular areas where kids play. But, I live in a kid friendly suburb. Kids, bikes, e-bikes and scooters are everywhere.
I may try walking the dogs separately. Sparkles is much easier to handle as a solo walker. Wiggles is too. It would allow me to train them more effectively. With two, it’s been impossible – whenever I focus on one, the other pays me no attention and goes ballistic.
I expect they’ll calm down a bit as they get older like my previous 4 dogs all did. They’ll also have less stamina and will walk less. Eventually one of them will die. I got both dogs with full acceptance of this reality of dog ownership.
As I was walking the dogs last week, I decided this will be my last 2 Dog Chapter. Once it closes, I’ll become a 1 Dog Man.
We had one dog before. At the time I wanted to get a second dog but my wife, who was over 60, absolutely refused. She said that I was working all the time and taking care of two dogs would be too much for her.
I didn’t understand it at the time because I was in my early forties but I didn’t fight her on this. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t. Having just one dog made our lives much easier.
I understand my wife’s reasoning now. Funny how as I approach age 60, it’s become mine too.