Well I suppose the answer is “dogs”. Depending on your individual circumstance, this ‘lockdown’ may affect your life in different ways, some people will be a lot worse off than others. For us, it isn’t terrible, I am able to work from home and we both work part-time. But what it has meant is that we have more time on our hands because we aren’t ‘nipping out to the shop’ or driving the dogs to a walk further away, and life becomes simpler in a way.
I’m not one for the whole ‘mindfulness’ movement, but I think unconsciously I have been practising it a bit more. I am noticing my surroundings a bit more, paying a bit more attention to things than I otherwise would. I had to visit my doctors surgery this morning and I found myself sitting in the car in the car park (waiting until I was called, as I was instructed to do) and heard the bird-song as the loudest thing, where normally it would be cars on the busy road that goes past the surgery. (visit to doctors surgery routine, nothing worrying!)
Gardening, I’m not a huge fan, but I do get some enjoyment from weeding and tidying….and when you are doing that, you’re not thinking about anything else. I think the brain needs a break from all this madness, so concentrating on something and therefore blocking everything else out, is a useful coping technique.
Life can assume an air of calmness about it, or least it can if you tune out the general stress that this time has brought us. As I said, focusing on the simpler life, which leads me onto dogs.
We have Finlay of course who is not that far off 3 years old now, and Cooper who is nearly 7 months old. Even though it wasn’t that long ago that Finlay was a puppy, Cooper has been a wake-up call of hard work and frustration but of course love and cuteness. He seems to love taunting his brother SO very much, it is his hobby. They sleep in adjacent rooms, separated but they can see one another, they seem to like it that way so far. But they are mad keen on seeing one another in the morning. The furious wagging until they can get to one another and then an explosion of energy that is unsettling for a 50-something year old man who really isn’t THAT good first thing in the morning. They get let out into the garden as quickly as possible so they can rampage around, whilst I get some coffee down me!
The best way I’ve found is to let them burn off their energy before letting them back into the house, otherwise they just bounce off every wall and the kitchen cupboards until they’ve had their breakfast. Cooper is very-very rough with Finlay, who just seems to put up with it. We assume he will at some point reach his limit and inform Cooper that this is the case. But he hasn’t reached his limit yet. Being just over 6 months old, Cooper is at his most hooligan age probably…..now and for the next couple of years haha! He still cannot be trusted to be left alone, given the chance he chews cables, pulls towels off the rails and drags them across the floor, chews rugs….pretty much anything he ISN’T supposed to do, he does. Which means so far in his life, we’re either with him, or he is imprisoned in his puppy pen….and he is now clearly indicating that being imprisoned is not the done thing. Crash and bang the puppy pen goes as he pulls it from its supposed square shape into a very thin diamond shape, taking the surrounding furniture with it.
You know when you look him square in the eye sometimes (or any puppy probably), and what looks back at you is pure puppy devilment…..Tibetan Spaniel owners, you’ve seen it, haven’t you!!
So, having this extra time to observe a puppy what do you see. Just how individual every dog is, not just the Tibetan Spaniel….but any dog I imagine. Cooper does some very cat-like movements with his front paws, Finlay of course wags a lot. Cooper has the best goading technique I’ve ever seen in getting Finlay to engage. The interplay between the two of them is fascinating, we eventually give way and pull Cooper off Finlay to give him a break, and then Finlay will purposefully get straight back in and begin playing again – even though we thought he’d had enough he clearly hasn’t. We try not to interfere where we can and just leave them too it. We are not keen on the “bitey faces” game, they absolutely love doing it, but we do worry about their eyes. They seem to know what they are doing. Then just when you think they are two independent boys marking out their territory, they’ll have the most tremendous love-in and end up sleeping together in the corner of the room.
Finlay has always been fairly independent, he will come and lay next to you on the couch but not for long – “human, I am gracing you my presence, you may stroke me”. So of course you take him up on his kind offer, but woe betide you if you overstep the mark…..stroke him by all means, but try and cuddle him and he’s off with a disdainful loud “sigh” and possibly a dirty look over his shoulder as he stalks off out into the hallway for a bit of peace and quiet. Again, Tibetan Spaniel owners, you’ve had the “sigh” too haven’t you?!
One thing to note, is that now we have two Tibetan Spaniels, when we go out for a walk we get less comments about what mix of breeds is he….because to the untrained eye they look very similar, so people figure they are perhaps the same breed. They certainly make a great team, because any human walking down the road towards them will be halted by Finlay’s wagging, then notice the cute puppy, and another set of fans are drawn in (well, they were until the last couple of weeks since social distancing came in, which the dogs most certainly do not approve of).
Walks are also a different thing. Finlay has always loved going out for walks and now he is a mature dog, he could walk for miles and would do given half the chance. I’ve no doubt he could walk further than I could before I needed a sit down. Cooper of course is only young so has enforced shorter walks, in fact much shorter than people seem to realise, even other dog owners. A local dog owner was very surprised to see me carrying Cooper whilst out with Deb and Finlay. “Is he alright” he asked, yes I said….but he only gets to walk for short distances, for the rest he is carried. Then ensued a long conversation about protecting young puppy bones and joints, it was news to the dog owner I was chatting to, sigh. We’re happy to educate, but surprised it is necessary.
Anyway, Cooper’s walk length is gradually increasing, but he is a nightmare at times whilst out walking. He loves to ambush Finlay half way across a road and chase him around….not ideal! He is also a bit skittish when he is out on his own walking with one of us, he prefers to be with Finlay. He constantly looks back behind him to see if his brother is coming. Finlay does nothing of the sort, it is much more like “I’m off and I don’t care if HE comes or not”.
Essentially dog watching could become almost a full-time hobby. They are very different characters but they do seem to get on well with one another. Certainly in these uncertain times, dogs provide a comfort and they have their demands which focus the mind on the present. The dogs will always need feeding, walking and playing with. They have an innocence through all this that you could get quite jealous of, they know nothing of what is going on in the world. If they sense you are a bit uneasy, then the come and give you a smile and a wag. Who could ask for more?
Here is a recent picture of Finlay, basking in the sunshine on his favourite bench:
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| Humans, you may adore me now |
On the same day, here is Cooper. He loves the garden, and he loves trying to consume the garden:
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| Nom, nom, nom, lovely stick |
Here we see Cooper's best goading technique. Even when Finlay gives him what seems to be a clear 'bugger off' sign, they still go back for more.
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