Puppy Love

Recently I've had the delightfully fun privilege of taking some puppies to the dog park. Off-leash adventures turn even old coots into rolicking puppies, so imagine what it does to these "free-at heart" little souls! Absolute abandon to the unbridled experience! They are swept into the riotous chases, only to be rolled by the bigger dogs as they race by. Undetered, they untangle their legs and re-engage with new determination. No room for hypersensitivity to rough treatment in them. A good roll now and again is just proof that they are a bonified part of the pack. Having not yet developed their discerning skills, their motto is "any old legs will do," as they attach themselves to whatever human appendages capture their fancy. The trick as the adventure guide is to keep my legs prancing with energy so they are consistently drawn to the right ones, namely mine.

Tucker is one of these gentle souls. A four month old Golden Retriever, he begged his way into inclusion on our adventures when he couldn't bear to see his big brother, Luke, leave without him. Still cloaked in puffs of cotton-candy puppy down, Tucker is the essence of irrestible! He either knows that, or is so unself-conscious that rejection never enters his mind. Every person is his long lost friend. And because he expects a royal reception, he invariably gets one. Coos and caws, ouhs and ahhs, people literally gush with delight at his adorable antics. Who doesn't love a puppy fix now and then?! Men on the make have accessed this attraction factor by either keeping a puppy around them, or trying (generally very unsuccessfully) to act like one. Simply irrestible (when authenticaly canine)!

Oh for that puppy-kind of perspective! For a pure heart that doesn't waste gobs of time nursing old hurts and constructing scabs for future protection. For resilency. For good-naturedness to end hypersensitivity. For expectation of a welcome reception that solicits exactly that. For puppy fluff instead of layers of armoring. For playfulness. And most of all for the ability to drop on the spot for a spontaneous nap. Now that's the life! Think 'puppy love' the next time someone barks a little too roughly at you!