Ringo Blue | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

Sad but necessary truth: Sam usually stays in the other half of the house when Ringo is awake with one of us in the kitchen/dining room. We are hoping this is a temporary situation, and even though Sam looks sad in this picture he’s much happier not having to worry about a bitey puppy right now, and he gets so much extra love and attention when Ringo is napping. We hope we can get his “situation” figured out, that he isn’t getting worse as we worry he is, that we can uncover a reason that is treatable, but no matter what happens he is so loved, has the best possible life we can give him. Sweet, sweet Sam.

Ringo is a working dog. Somehow I’d managed to forget that in the frustration, exhaustion of having a new puppy. Today, when I was trying to unload the dishwasher and he kept getting in the way, into everything, and when I was most frustrated, something shifted and I remembered: he might be a baby, but he already wants to work. So, I gave him something to do. He would get up and stand on the open door of the dishwasher (this is only possible because he’s not much more than 10 pounds right now), and I would get a treat, motion to the floor and say “off.” He loved it.

This morning, Sam revisited a game he invented as a puppy: bury the toy in the bed, thus destroying the bed. He stole the new orange ball I gave Ringo yesterday, the one Eric had been teaching Ringo to play fetch with, rewarding him with treats. He played it until he remembered he was four years old and not a puppy anymore, and then took a little nap.

It was good to see it. I’d forgotten the game, and this morning was feeling a bit distracted because of an episode of scratching, itchiness that woke us all up last night. It only took a few minutes for Sam to relax back down and fall asleep again, but it’s a reminder that he’s not entirely well. And yet, I think of something that Patti Digh always says, “you are not broken, you don’t need to be fixed.” Whatever is happening with Sam, wherever it might lead, he is whole.