Dogs and Sandra

For as long as I have known My Lady Sandra, dogs have been an important part of her life. But, dogs and I have until 2 years ago had a somewhat distant relationship. I was afraid of dogs. When I was little (in the NWT) a great big sled dog tried to maul me and my bother. My mom was there, but she could pick us both up and walk away, nor could she fight the dog. Since that day, I have been terrified of dogs.

Sandra's family used to have a beautiful dog named Barney. It was difficult for me to come to her house and face the dog. Now, Barney in no way was a bad dog. Except he would occasionally get excited (as border collies will get). Once or twice he freaked me out and I had to disappear from Sandra's home to get my mental feet back under me. When Sandra realised how difficult it was for me to be around Barney, she began to teach me about dogs. And Barney and I became fast friends. I did unfortunatley retain much of my nervousness around other dogs.

When I married Sandra, I knew there would be dogs in the future. Sometime far in the future, I thought. We were beginning to show the symptoms of many of the things I have written about elsewhere in this blog. About two and a half years ago Sandra asked me "Could we get a dog?"

And I said, "No, lets sort out our relationship first. I am still a bit afraid of having a dog in my own home."

She replied "When would you be ready?"

"When could you be more intimate with me?"

A brief verbal struggle ensued. I then realised that Sandra's problems were big. To big for me to deal with. This dog fight was the turning point in my understanding of Sandra's problems. After she came back from cooling off, I told her that I was ready to have a dog in the house. In six monthes. That moment was the happiest I had seen her in months. That is how Merlin came to be in our house.

Some time later, Sandra came to me with a lone puppy story. Her parents had found someone whose dog was having puppies. All the puppies were spoken for but one. And Sandra wanted that one. I caved. A couple of weeks later, Loki came home.

Now, Sandra does most of the work with the dogs and I get to play with them. It is a good deal. Our dogs heal us. We each needed someone to sit with us, when we were not feeling well, someone that would not judge us or speak with words. There are times when words do not matter. That is when it is time for our dogs. Sometimes it is better to give in.