You gotta be quick!

Puppy teeth are sharp and puppies get excited. It's a fact, nothing personal nor any comment on you, it's just a reality associated with owning a dog.

I have a dog.

My wife took Danny out for a walk and didn't tell me until later that he had nailed her on the back of her hand at the base of the thumb.

You definitely do not get mad at a dog for being a dog. You just calmly go over the training again about nipping. Hmmmmm. There must be a lesson in that. Might have something to do with it being a VERY good thing that God is patient and calm with us?

Well... there was that whole flood thing so patience can have limits I guess. Probably a good idea not to really try to test those limits. Oh yeah.... dogs...

I have a dog.

The good part about those sharp teeth are they are puppy teeth and the adult teeth are a little duller. I have been told that by reliable authorities so I really hope it is true. I've been nailed once or twice myself. I'm just a little quicker than my wife and sort of expect it.

There are a lot of things that "you gotta be quick" about.

• Setting the hook on a fish
• Ducking when someone yells "duck" or "fore" (ask "why" AFTER!)
• Apologies (this is REALLY important!)
  
• Laughing at a joke (even if you didn't get it right away)

You could really consider it a matter of timing I guess.
Setting the hook at the precise moment the fish has it in his mouth, not before or after.
Getting your head down before whatever it was, is now where your head was.
Apologies lose value quickly. The longer you wait, the better that apology needs to be.
Laughing at a joke just slightly after most of the rest have started but before the last person starts. You don't have to actually get the joke, you just need to appear to. That's unlike the "duck" thing. On that one, there is no faking it. DUCK!

One dog breeder (we're back to dog's... keep up!) told me that Danny would be in a lot of pain with the teething thing and expect most of the training accomplished up to that point to temporarily go out the window. So far it's gone pretty well, but then again, he is just starting.

Did you know that you don't have to speak to talk? I swear Danny has established a doggie "mind meld" with me. I am catching myself talking to him as though he had made a statement or asked a question. Spooky stuff.

That love that flows out of those eyes is scary stuff. If I get less patient than I'd like be (ashamed of myself is the actual phrase) with him, he gets this hurt look and I want to dig a hole and climb in it. It's really an ugly feeling. No matter how you have just yelled at him, he is ready to love you unconditionally.

You definitely do NOT want to see sadness or fear in those eyes and believe me, it is as visible as a lightning bolt hitting the ground in front of you on a dark night and seriously painful. It's capable of shattering your soul in a heartbeat and condemning you and forgiving you in that same instant. It's a mirror showing you a place in yourself that your REALLY don't want to see, or even know is there.

We want to lie to ourselves and tell ourselves how good we are. Very often we aren't, but learning that truth is a good thing. You can't start to work on what's wrong, if you don't know it's even there.

There are beasts that we would accord the title "human" merely because of their appearance, that can look into the eyes of a dog and see nothing. Speaking only for myself, I would not so accord them that title. Soulless beast's they are and should be treated so.

Ok... so I'm not quite a liberal, angst ridden, guilt seeking, know everything (it's all YOUR fault), tree hugging, chain myself to the power plant gate, dove.

I'm not a member of the NRA, but that's probably because I don't like big clubs (the kind you join, not the kind you swing!).

I have a dog.

That's not a bad thing.

Regards,
WebMouse