Six Months of Happy

What a difference 6 months makes!  I started to reminisce a bit this morning as I was spending some time with Tucker, and I had to share some observations about the last 6 months of learning & loving my canine companion.  

• From baby to best friend.  The day Tucker traveled home with me, he was a little ball of fur, tightly curled up in my mom's arms as I drove us home.  He was pretty miserable from his car travels, so he did nothing but sleep and look sad for about 24 hours.  After that 24 hours, it was about 4 months of him being a baby in every meaning of the word, and this made for a lot of work.  I didn't mind the work because I love playing the role of caretaker--it satisfies the deepest depths of my being.  But, what I soon realized is the incredible reward that would eventually come in return of that care.  At this point, Tucker has become a best friend.  He pretends to enjoy everything I ask him to do, putting up no fight.  This includes baths, trips to the vet and the inevitable "beauty shop" time I submit him to on a regular basis.  Most important, he's excited about the start of each and every new day.  In fact, I would go so far as to say he's elated at the light of each new day.  This, on most days, is contagious.  All of this positive return makes him the best best friend a girl could ask for.  
• Learning in silence.  Bonding with Tucker has taught me a ton about intuitive bonding...without words.  In most relationships in your life, you gradually learn about people through their own words and indications.  It's been a beautiful process to learn Tucker's likes, dislikes, triggers for fear, most effective means of praise, etc.  My experience has been that the world sort of has to go away sometimes so that I can "listen" to him and read his body language.  I may have accumulated a plethora of harnesses, collars and leashes, but we've finally figured out what he best likes for taking walks.  This is important because as he's grown from a mere 12 pound, easily pliable puppy, into a not-so-easily-pliable 51 pound puppy, he has gradually surpassed me in strength.  I've also learned that he really loves ice cubes and will stop just about any poor behavior for one.  He also really enjoys some concentrated time for love and hugs after his breakfast and just before bed.  All of this, I've only learned through close attention and an almost meditative approach to our bond.  
• Wherever I go, there you are.  One of the most endearing traits about Tucker is that he's emphatically mine.  There's always some stir happening in the house, which includes another human, another canine and a feline.  But, despite all of this "noise,"  Tucker stays so focused on me.  I go about chores or go to the bedroom to read before bed, and whether he was dead asleep or not when I decided to do this stuff, he appears at my side.  He doesn't care if I can't pet him or pay him all of my attention.  He just likes to be within eyesight.  The comfort and adoration that accompanies this habit of his makes me wonder how I didn't feel like I was missing something before him.  
• My very own Richard Simmons.  So, he lacks the fancy fitness attire and high energy expressions of encouragement.  However, he definitely has the curly hair, and he has definitely shown me the way to consistent exercise and better health.  We take walks in the early morning as well as the later evenings, providing the temp drops below 100 degrees.  And these walks have become so enjoyable.  It was not always this way...this has definitely been an evolution.  Initially, I could barely convince him to step a paw outside of our front yard.  His canine sister Riley, who is approximately one-third his size, gradually taught him the ways of pounding the pavement as a four-legged companion.  And it's only been within the past month or two that he's decided he can fend for himself and take walks with me, minus Riley.  Now, he's so in love with walks that he sits his straightest sit, giving his loveliest glance, and gently whines to remind me it's time to leave for our walk.  The hour of walking we do together in a day has been great for my health as well.  And, as a walking partner/canine child, Tucker convinces me we shouldn't skip our walk simply by being.  It's not like the guilt you feel if you slip out on a human walking partner, it stems from a general concern for their health as your pet, which for me has been like the experience of caring for a child.  I want nothing but the best for him, and without a word, he confirms he wants the best for me.        

And so, my experience with Tucker has been one that started with great love and affection, but it is something that has grown into a much deeper bond.  There is a mutual caretaker role that neither one of us seems to mind.  In fact, it's such a natural and harmonious connection that it's hard to believe it's only been 6 months.  I thank my lucky stars each and every day for his love and his good health, and I can't wait to spend many more months watching him grow.