Her eyes are captivating. She is impatient. She craves attention -my attention- every time she can. She sighs when I tell her to go to bed and rest. She is one year old. And she is my very first attempt to train a dog almost successfully.
Her name is Bubi (from Budapest). A Hungarian vizsla. A hunting breed. It only means she thinks everything that moves is a prey. I need to make sure she is active at least a couple of hours during the day. Solution? I got Coco (from Coconut). Coco is five months old. She is a white Swiss shepherd. Shy. Cautious. Calm. The opposite of Bubi.
They are my babies. I love watching them play. They drain my energy since I have to constantly educate them. But it is fun. The perfect excuse to go out (with them). And the perfect excuse not to go out (to stay with them).
Honestly, when growing up I did not know a common person could actually train dogs to do things. I thought they needed to be of a specific breed in order to obey a ‘sit down’ command. So 2022 was the year I thought I had the space and willingness to deal with this responsibility. And so I insisted in 2023.
Now my days are planned based on: “did they eat? I need to take them out for walk. They need a shower. What’s this spot? How did they get these scratches? Please don’t pet my dogs without my consent. Bubi, shut up. Coco, enough. I love you, girls.”
This man lectured me to pick my dogs’ poop one morning at 7am. I always do anyway. But apparently I am responsible for all dogs’ poop in the neighbourhood. I should have thanked him for the compliment. He thought I really have the capacity to own the number of dogs responsible for all the poop resting there in the parking lots.
They are lovely. Amazing company. Restless responsibility. And a great reminder that there’s more than just myself.
Migratory Bird 