Listen Up, Pup

I always know that something's off with me when I don't want to go for my nightly stroll with Ollie the wiener dog. Sometimes that something is purely physical ... I'm not feeling well or I'm exhausted because I haven't had enough sleep or my muscles are sore from working in the yard all day. Those times don't concern me much ... the times when my not wanting to walk can be easily explained due to a legitimate physical cause. It's the times when my lack of motivation or desire to hit the trail is purely emotional or mental ... I'm sad or I'm stressed out or I'm feeling all alone in the world. Those times concern me a whole hell of a lot ... the times when my not wanting to walk can only be explained in the context of the ever-present wolf at my window. It's one thing when my body doesn't want to walk ... it's another thing altogether when my mind doesn't want to walk. And the horrible times when the two decide to double team me? Just suffice it to say that those times are the absolute worst ... those times really and truly suck more than you'll ever know.

Tonight was one of those times when I didn't want to head out into the cool evening air and walk with Ollie. Just for fun, I'm not telling you why I didn't want to walk or which, if any, of the factors I previously mentioned were responsible for my lack of walking want to this evening. It's odd to me that for as smart as Ollie is, he always wants to walk whether I want to or not. What's even odder is that on the nights when I really, really, really don't want to walk, he barks and paws at me and runs back and forth to the door begging me to get up off the couch and head out to the trail. Hmmmm ... now that I think about it, maybe my crazy little wiener dog is smarter than I know ... maybe he is indeed. As I'm sure you've already guessed, Ollie finally won the battle tonight and convinced me that not only did he need a walk, but that I did as well.

It was a beautiful evening here in KC, and the trail was filled with runners, bikers and walkers out enjoying the gorgeous weather. Children's laughter wafted through the crisp air as they frolicked on the playground that sits off to the side of the trail. The kids always capture my attention when Ollie and I stroll past the playground, and I often catch myself daydreaming of the fun I could have with Coraline and Amelie if they were here. I've gotten to know several of them and their parents ... mainly because all the kids love Ollie and always want to pet him, so we usually end up making a stop at the playground. I didn't want to stop tonight because ... well ... just because I didn't want to stop. As I tugged on Ollie's leash and said, "Come on, buddy ... no kids tonight ... come on," I heard several of the kids calling his name and beckoning him to come on over so they could love on him. Which meant that Ollie planted his paws firmly on the pavement beneath him, wagged his tail and made it abundantly clear that he wanted to go see his kid friends on the playground ... bet you can't guess who got his way for the second time tonight.

We walked across the grass to the playground where we were instantly swarmed with little kids ... Ollie's tail wagging faster and faster as he tried his best to lick as many of their faces as he possibly could. Just as I was picking him up and telling the kids we needed to be on our way, a darling little girl who looked to be about Amelie's age came toddling up saying, "Doggie! Pease doggie! Doggie hold baby?" I squatted down in front of the little girl with the gigantic blue eyes and asked, "You want to hold my doggie?" She squealed and clapped her hands as she immediately sat down and stretched out her arms, her mom nodding her head to me that it was okay for the little gal to hold Ollie. I watched as she hugged him, and I smiled when Ollie gave the laughing little girl a sloppy dog kiss right on the lips. I'm not sure how many minutes passed before the little girl's mom told her it was time to go, but I do know the little girl didn't agree with her mom's declaration ... not one little bit.

I always feel badly for parents who are dealing with a screaming kid, and I feel especially badly when my dog is the cause of the tears and the wailing. The more the mom called the little girl's name and told her it was time to go, the faster the kiddo's tears rolled and the tighter she gripped Ollie ... tightly enough that he looked at me with that, "Save me!" look in his eyes as I reached out to pry him from the girl's arms. Surprisingly, the little gal let go of my more than a little frightened wiener dog, stood up, looked at her obviously embarrassed mother and announced as only an almost 2-year-old can do, "I go doggie, mom." I'll spare you the details of what took place over the next several minutes, but I will tell you that the young mom quickly learned that getting Ollie to walk in the direction of her car meant getting her little one to walk in the direction of her car as well. For every "Come on, Ollie," spoken by the mom or me, the little girl would repeat the command and follow Ollie as he trotted along in the direction I instructed him to go.

After assuring the young mother that 2-year-olds don't stay 2-year-olds forever and waving goodbye to the once again screaming little girl who was by then Ollie-less and buckled into her car seat, Ollie and I headed off to finish our walk. As we turned into our street, I acknowledged that tonight's walk wasn't really about walking at all ... tonight's walk was about listening ... not hearing, but listening. There's a big difference between the two, you know ... a huge difference. Tonight's walk wasn't at all about walking, friends ... it was about listening.

Listen up, pup ...