Spring Loaded Action

Tika loves her walks in the morning. She follows me endlessly, ensuring I don’t get off-track and do something useless like grab a tea or say, wake up before rushing out the door to go to the park. Mornings are time for fast, goal oriented movements. Get dressed, throw some mouthwash in that trash can you call a mouth and get out the door. And so my mornings go. Every single morning, rain, shine, snow, sleet and or hail—well you get the picture. There’s no sleeping in for me unless I’m sick. I know this sounds whiny and it probably is, but I actually love having the “morning shift.” The park is peaceful and sunrise is beautiful. A happy dog and blissful quiet is the perfect start of a busy day to come.

We often run into other dogs and owners in the park. They, like me, start the day watching happy dogs frolic and play. It’s an added bonus that we get to know each other and, like our pets, we get the social boost that adds to the joy of the morning shift. I’ve met some wonderful people and in one instance, made lifelong friends who are more like family. But that’s another story.

I had a knee replacement recently that kept me from being able to do the morning walk. Prior to the surgery, my husband Jim walked with us and met some of the regulars. When he took over the morning shift, the walk time varied from day to day. He met more dog people, made new friends and told me stories of each and their dogs.

The other day, I had the pleasure to meet one such dog, Zeke. Zeke is a one-year-old Australian shepherd. Jim told me about meeting Zeke and his parents while I recovered from surgery. Boundless energy and a love of herding my herding dog (there’s a crazy image for you.) That’s little Zeke. Well, Tika and I were walking, that’s the second half of the morning routine. The first is playing catch until she’s tiredish. As we walked toward the car, a small gray bullet raced towards my Tika. She excitedly launched herself towards the bullet. As he came closer, I saw that it was Zeke. Jim aptly described him to me during my post-surgical imprisonment.

Zeke is just beautiful with his multi-colored coat and crystal blue eyes. But what is most appealing is the way he runs. Half rabbit, half bounding dog; he is the most comical creature I’ve seen in a long while. The front half is all dog, strong legs pulling a rocket body. The back half is pure rabbit- both legs bouncing in unison, sometimes nearly upending the dog body so he has to slow it down for a split second before leap-running again. This spring-loaded action dog gave me quite a chuckle. I just laughed at this while approaching his owner.

Luna, Tika’s Saint Bernard friend ambled along, chasing both Tika and Zeke, barking orders all the way. This is how I met Zeke’s mom. Luna’s mom introduced us and we girls walked and talked and laughed the rest of the way to my car.

My car is a magical place where the best treats are located. Luna tends to gravitate to the car whenever she sees it, so the walk back was pretty uneventful. I opened Tika’s door to get treats for the poochies. Zeke immediately jumped in, ready to go! We laughed while Luna drooled and Tika just ran around in circles wondering what was so funny. We got Zeke out of the car for treats. Once he realized what was happening and the true beauty of “the car,” he was all in. As in, he bounced in front of both dogs, demanding all the treats.

Between Luna’s drooling obsession, Zeke’s spring-like action and Tika’s patient stare, my morning shift ended with a roar. I love this time of day. The entertainment is top-notch, girl time with the other moms is wonderful and I get to play the awesome treat hero with the silliest dogs I know. Today, I got to see a rabbit-dog in action to boot! What a way to start my day.