Saturday, January 16, 2010

3 dogs and a little lady

TG and I went to visit her Godmom today. I really enjoy this little trips. For one, it is a pleasant ride up to Putnam county giving us plenty of time to crank up the tunes and sing out loud. TG and I can jam out to 'If You're Happy and You Know It' fairly well. I also enjoy being able to go to her house and not worry about chasing after a young toddler who loves to explore and discover.
Taking a toddler out to a restaurant or any public venue can be a handful and I wind up spending more time chasing after her than socializing with friends. I also hope that hanging out at her house affords her a little downtime too. She's the type of lady who is so gosh darn nice she doesn't say 'no' and winds up running around like a loon because of her kind heart.
Well, at this particular visit, TG got to meet up with her Godmom's two dogs plus the newest member in the Motley crew, Maggie. Maggie is a spritely pup who was rescued from an undersized kennel. She was stuck in this tiny kennel for so long that her growth has been hampered. She has an underdeveloped hind leg and was undernourished. She's a cutie but very rambunctious. The only dogs TG is used to are older, plus 10+ varieties. Zoe is 13+ years at this point. She's part deaf and part blind. She is essentially our 60 lb moving rug.
So when TG arrived at her Godmom's home, the three spry pups went hog wild for this tiny human being. The first two, TG is used to and immediately put up her defense shield, two arms up over the face. The third however sent TG over the acceptable personal space concerns. TG lost her balance several times when she was pounced on and fell backwards hitting her head twice. Thank goodness, TG is resilient. She cried twice but found a hero in her Godmom's husband. Within an hour, she realized that if she stuck close to him, he'd 'defend' her from the coo coo for TG pups. She also realized that if she dropped Jay Raffe, the pups would grab a hold of him so she kept him securely in her arms.
In the end, I think it was a learning experience for her and me. I could have been neurotic and pounced at any chance to protect her but I let her fight her battles with the energetic pups. I'm sure there were times I could have intervened and avoided a few crying sessions and a mouthful of dirt at one point but I think we both needed to test our boundaries.
It also gave me a chance to not be the one who constantly chased after her. Baby steps, I suppose. Baby steps.