I never thought of myself as a dog person until this morning. Shadow gets me up at dawn, whenever dawn is. Either pet jumps on the bed, whining for breakfast. Pierre’s technique is usually to bite at your legs under the covers, while Shadow prefers the whine and dash.
After feeding Pierre (the king is always fed first), I feed Shadow and take her out for a walk. We usually walk about half a mile to a mile, watching the sun rise over the woods and fields. The wildlife is the best at this time of the morning. On any given morning, I’ll spot all sorts of beautiful birds – thrushes, pine siskin, cardinals, orioles, and many more. There are rabbit, of course, and deer – always deer. One morning we saw our resident skunk waddling off through the woods. We often hear tiny feet rustling through the leaves.
This morning, Shadow was a total goof. After doing her business, she was leaping around on the end of the leash, snapping, grinning, tongue hanging out. I don’t trust her off the leash on a frosty morning like this; the deer scent is too strong, and I heard hunters moving through the woods, their dog packs barking. Last week, she stood off and barked off a pack of hunting dogs. They chased deer directly at us as we were walking up the driveway. After the deer ran at us they veered into the woods, with three large hounds snapping at their hooves. Shadow was on full, German Shepherd, defend-or-die alert, and those three dogs took one look at her and took off back down the road. It was pretty amazing.
After I headed upstairs this morning, crazy dog wasn’t finished with me. Back outside we went, with me chasing her pell-mell around the lawn. After 20 minutes of play, she was finally satisfied to come back inside. I’ve sure gotten my exercise today.
I never thought of myself as a “dog person”. When I was a little girl, I loved dogs, but I loved all animals. When I was 8, a friend’s dog bit me in the face so badly I needed stitches. After that I was afraid of dogs until college. When I began riding horses, the barns all had dogs (what’s a stable without a dog?) so I got to like dogs again. Then I met John, and he had Mr. Foxhound, his golden retriever mix…it was “love me, love my dog”, with my hubby being the quintessential dog person. So I learned to like dogs.
But Shadow has taught me to love dogs. She keeps me from getting too serious about myself. She makes sure I get fresh air and exercise. Every evening, just as dusk approaches, she tugs on my sleeve while I’m writing, or she comes to my desk and whines; quitting time, she says. She lays on the floor of my office, often with her head on my feet as a I work. I have to take breaks and get outside and walk her; this gives me about 2 miles or more of walking every day, if you add up our romps.
She protects me fiercely and loves me unconditionally. From dog packs heading down the driveway to a black bear that dashed across our path last year, she’d stand off anything to keep me safe.
I love Pierre and I’m still a cat person. But this rescued German Shepherd has chosen to love me, and I’ve fallen back in love with dogs. She’s made me a better person all around.
Today’s photo is Shadow in her Christmas finery. I made the bandana with fabric from Heartland Fabrics, the new store by Miller’s in Farmville. Fantastic selection and service. The lady there is helping me pick out squares for my winter quilting project. I made a matching collar for Pierre, but he won’t wear it.
