This morning I took Sheila for a walk. We always go to the same place because I want her to get used to walking in the same area. Usually there are not many people there, but some mornings it seems that everyone wants to walk at the same time.
Those are the mornings that Sheila hates. She doesn’t mind other dogs, but she’s afraid of the people with those dogs.
The other morning we were walking along and some kids were coming down the trail. We heard them before we saw them. They were yelling and “singing”. Usually I just pull Sheila up and walk by, but she seemed to be really upset with the noise. There was a path off of the trail so I took her up the path to wait until the kids got by. Then we went back on the trail and she was fine to finish our walk.
We meet some of the same people on the trail each day. I’ve stopped and talked to some of the people and never knew their names. But, we introduce our dogs. We’ll talk for ten minutes or so and then we’ll ask “What’s your dog’s name?” But, we never really introduce ourselves. Kind of strange, but I’ve seen this often. And really, I don’t think to introduce myself first if we start talking about our dogs. Now when I see the dog and the person coming, I usually remember the dog’s name, but probably won’t know the owner’s name.
This morning when we parked in the parking lot, I noticed a woman who was getting ready to run or walk. She was stretching. I thought she might be going the same path as we were, so I took my time putting my Ipod on. Sheila does not like for people to be behind her so I wanted the woman to go ahead of us. Then she started walking toward my car to walk by. She was going a different way. I had gotten Sheila out and was getting ready to start across the parking lot to the trail. The woman said a terse “Good morning” to me, then looked back at Sheila, AND SMILED AT HER, but not at me! This is how it is.
I did meet a man one day who was walking his Golden Retriever. We walked together and talked about our dogs. He said her name was “Teddy”. She had showed up at the back door of a friend of his. She was just a big, fluffy puppy, hence the name. The friend tried to find her owners and then when he couldn’t, he tried to find someone who could take her. Apparently he already had an older dog which would not tolerate a puppy.
That was how “Teddy” came to live with “Rick” (I actually got his name!) and his family. We’ve seen “Teddy” and Rick a couple of times since then, while we were walking the trail. Usually they were going the other way, so we didn’t walk together, but we stopped and talked.
Most people have to pull their dog up close to them when we pass. We see them coming towards us down the trail. Sheila moves as far to the edge of the road as she can. I’ve never had a problem with her trying to get to the other dog. But some of the dogs we pass are pulling and whining, trying to come and meet Sheila.
People who pass us seem amazed that Sheila is as far to the side as she is. She really doesn’t want to have anything to do with them.
The times that we have allowed our dogs to sniff each other, Sheila just stands stiff-legged and wags her tail. She really likes other dogs. Her thoughts are “Lose your owner and we can talk or play”.
We met a couple, Joyce and Eddie, when we used to walk at La Media. Their dog was “Jesse”. Of course we introduced them to Sheila and then got around to introducing ourselves.
Joyce always had “duck jerky” as a treat for “Jesse”. She gave some to Sheila too. She got it at Costco. The next time we went to Costco, we bought some. Sheila loves it. We use it for treats and when we are training her. She’s putty in our hands when she knows she’s getting duck.
We saw Joyce and Eddie a few weeks later and they said “I remember, her name is Sheila.” We were amazed (they probably didn’t remember our names). Joyce said “I remember, because “Sheila” means girl in Australian” and we all laughed. In the Outback restaurants they have “Sheila’s” on the girl’s restroom.
Well, we hadn’t thought of that when we named her Sheila. She’s half Border Collie and Australian Cow Dog/Shepherd. Sheila’s name was “Sheeba” when we adopted her. When we were leaving the animal shelter, after adopting her, I mistakenly called her “Sheila” and we decided that it would be her new name. It wasn’t so different from her original name and we didn’t want too many more changes for her.
It is a fact that you can meet people who are walking their dog and have a long conversation with them, usually about the dogs and we probably will ask “What’s his/her name or how old is he/she, etc.?” and sometimes we even introduce ourselves.
But, it's almost guaranteed that the next time you see that person and his/her dog, you will only remember the dog’s name.
I’ve read that if you’re single, get a dog.
More later...........
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