The Renovation Dog

I just got back from vacation, and as much fun as it was it was super hard to be away from Luke.  I think I struck up a conversation with every Border Collie and Sheltie owner in the Pacific Northwest!  I’ve been thinking how much Luke would have loved this trip and how dog-friendly most of this trip really was.  It really is just a shame that there just isn’t a way of getting normal-sized dogs places without driving them or subjecting them to torturous cargo area rides on planes that would scar them for life!  (Especially Luke, who is already dealing with whatever damage he sustained from his puppyhood!)  So, I thought, thought I, why don’t certain airlines have special dog areas?  I think they could remove two to four of the middle seats (which no one really wants to sit in anyway, right?) and fashion the space for a dog to occupy.  That way, people could pay a puppy fare of some kind and walk their (less than 50-60 lb?) dogs onto the plane and then be able to have a nice vacation with their beloved pet that doesn’t waste the entire time just getting where they are going.  Eh?  Eh?  The airlines could make a little extra money selling Evian and dog biscuit travel packs for the pooches!?!  After the flight home, however, I think I will exclude Delta from the bidding on my idea.  Long story, different blog!

So Luke and I had a moment out of a movie today.  We were out walking and these two guys ride by on bikes.  One of them keeps riding the other looks back at us and is trying to get his buddy’s attention in regards to us — so much so that he turns around just in time to narrowly escape plowing into his buddy’s bike.  It was one of those moments where you were glad catastrophe had been averted, especially since you had been the cause.

I would like to claim all the credit.  I would like to say that it was because it is June in Texas and in order to step outside your door in the afternoons you basically have to forgo the wearing of clothing, and what I was wearing was so enticing that it made this poor fellow almost wreck his bike.  Alas, no.  It was my beautiful dog that was his undoing.  And can I blame him, really?  So the story really goes a bit more like this…

These two guys ride by on their bikes while Luke and I are out walking.  One of them seems to take no notice whatsoever.  The other one, however, tells me I have a great dog.  I tell him thank you.  He looks as if he is going to ride on, but he looks back at Luke once more as if to make sure he’s really seeing what he thinks he’s seeing.  Then he catches up with his buddy, just out of my earshot, and begins talking to his buddy with the top half of his body turned back around to face Luke.  His buddy still show enough disinterest as to not even glance over his shoulder as he peddles on down the path, but his is quite nearly interrupted by our Border Collie aficionado as he finally turns back around just in time to find himself about to ride smack into his buddy’s rear wheel.

Luke, on the other hand, was a bit too concerned with whether his latest stick would make good mulch to notice his 15 seconds of fame!

When I rescued Luke from the shelter I had this idea that his ordeal would be over soon.  For all but the first year of my life, I had been ruled by Shelties and was well aware of the dynamics of a herding dog relationship.  It was one of the reasons they let me have Luke in the first place.  I had never spent an extended amount of time with a Border Collie, though.  If you have, and as I found out, Luke’s ordeal was destined to continue — perpetuated by his own mind’s incredible inner-workings.

The plan was a renovation of sorts.  As you would with maybe a kitchen, if you’ll bear with the analogy, I would take something that was beautiful already and wonderfully unique in its flaws and try to help it be something I could live with.  Things rarely go according to plan and all renovations take longer, and more resources, than you originally expect.  This one involved a living, breathing creature — with a mind and a will of his own.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into!  I had no idea that over the next four years and counting I would be such a totally changed person myself because of what Luke brought into my life, and because of what he teaches me every day about moving past fear.