Sometimes playing the long game is just the way it must be. The level of growth and change to become or achieve what you choose can be such a leap.
Chunking up the individual areas and taking the action to be consistent over and over takes time. Building in a new habit and lesson on top of one another takes time.
OR:
Get a dog that needs 90 mins of exercise every day, has an inbuilt alarm clock for 0445hrs and is mental for food.
Pretty much a replica of her new guardian. Me.
I said in May 2023 last year after my other dog passed over that I would never have another dog. The heartbreak after 17 years was rough. No noise, no movement in the house and no random acts of chaos. The house was silent and the pain of loss was rough.
November 2023, I woke up and said to myself it is time. Time for another Dog.
I knew this time I would love a dog that could walk for a day in the hills with me and run the 10km routes I love to do in the Welsh hills.
Then boom. At the start of Feb, a dog appeared at a rescue shelter.
Tuesday, Feb 13th, 2024, I collected her and oh my lord did my life take a shift for the better.
The dog has the same morning wake-up time. No programming is needed.
The dog oh so needs 90 to 120 mins of solid exercise every day. Same as me.
The dog needs its mind challenged or she gets bored. Same as me.
The dog can eat… not fussy at all. Same as me.
She loves to sleep when she has exercised her mind and body to destruction. Same as me.
The dog is completely bonkers. Same as me.
She has wild poodle-style hair. Same as me.
I found myself a mini-me.
I now have a shadow. No matter where I go, she is there.
I have walked or run every day since Feb 13th. She loves the hills just like me. She will walk and walk and walk. I look back and I will say with total certainty that one has to be careful with what you wish for.
My body this morning was destroyed. It was stiff, sore, the DOMS were at another level. Even my hair was hurting. Dehydrated, hungry and honestly without a dog I would have found my way to the coffee machine and found my way to the sofa for an hour.
Today we were out in the backyard hills by 0530hrs.
10km ran and walked. We saw some cows and not a single human.
The mind and body are an amazing thing when you have a dog. The sense of accomplishment doing a 10km run walk when broken is brilliant. That feeling of fuck it, let’s just get on with it. Then the body feeling like it works after 35 minutes.
A lot of work to do around boundaries and I have found an amazing trainer to work with. The dog learns quickly but is rather stubborn when she wants to be.
I guess that is the labradoodle way.
Coco the labradoodle has changed my life for the better.
Bring on more DOMS.
