Discovering the Positive in Every Day
Glory is more than just a pet, she’s family.
My husband, a self proclaimed dog lover, wanted a dog. We had a house of our own, the kids were a bit older, so I decided it was time. We adopted Glory and that was the beginning of our journey with a dog.
This year, Milk-Bone is celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary with Canine Assistants, a non-profit organization that trains and provides service dogs to children and adults with physical disabilities and special needs. This is the kind of training we were learning about this week.
I can’t believe it’s been five years to the day since we adopted Glory. It seems like she’s been a part of our family for a lot longer than that.
When we adopted Glory we received no information about her other than what the humane society learned about her in the short time she was with them. She was a stray, about three years old at the time, and she was healthy and spayed according to the medical information.
That was it.
We had to learn everything else ourselves. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know her over the past year, and thanks to my ambassadorship with Beneful, you’ve had the opportunity to learn a bit more about her too.
We’ve shared about our dream for a reactive dog friendly dog park, as well as our own methods of making sure she gets enough exercise. You’ve probably learned that she’s got a good face for photographs, and she’s not too bad at making cute videos.
Part of being a responsible dog owner is making sure your dog gets enough exercise. With Glory we’re on top of this task. We make sure to keep her busy throughout the day to help her work up a good appetite. I don’t think there’s an activity she doesn’t enjoy, unless it’s a game of frisbee. But, I told you all about that a few months back.
Today I’m sharing with you a variety of activities Glory does enjoy.
After we adopted Glory we wanted to make sure we could take her out to do things with us that she would enjoy. Obviously dog park visits were on the list because we wanted a big open space for her to run for exercise and fun, not to mention getting social with other dogs.
Safety is always the number one goal with dogs, both for our dog, other dogs and of course the people around us. A key safety practice for introducing dogs to new parks is to go when it’s not busy so the dog isn’t stressed and can get familiar with the sights and sounds. It’s also a great way for the owners to get familiar with the local dog park rules. When we took Glory, she did great. She mostly hung out around the fenceline sniffing out the other dogs who had visited the park.
Adopting Glory and the years after getting to know each other has been a whirlwind of emotions. Everything from getting me used to owning a dog, something I hadn’t done since I was seven, to helping me forgive the destructive tendencies of a newly adopted, anxious, pet who we don’t have the history on and she can’t tell us. There have been a lot of great moments with her too, such as teaching her to play and discovering what games she loves. Tug. She loves tug. To seeing her communicate her preferences in comfy spots to sleep (always on my big comfy blankets on top of the kids bean bags. So much better than her own big expensive bed). And don’t forget the expressive nature of her eyebrows. She has truly shown us that yes, dogs have their own thoughts, interests and emotions. Glory is definitely a loved part of our family.
This is my kitty boy Arthur. His full name is King Arthur Pendragon. Creative aren’t we? I’m not quite sure what emotion he’s communicating in this look. It could be annoyance that I’m taking a picture of him or maybe the eyes of a psycho plotting the imminent death of the photographer (me). Honestly, I think…
If you are a stay at home parent, you are probably aware there is no such thing as privacy any more. The situation was bad in my house. The kids have a built in radar sensing the moment my jeans are being unbuttoned. It doesn’t matter if it’s to go to the bathroom, take a…
