There seems to be no chronological logic to what I post and when, but since my whole life right now is the way it is due to Covid 19 it seems like a good time to talk about it.
I was furloughed about mid-March and the government is paying me 80% of my average wage to stay home and not spread the virus. Lovely. Obviously with a young, energetic dog in the house I am unable to to literally stay home, but it’s a good excuse to avoid getting on buses or straying too close to the city centre. Instead Shadow and I have been exploring more and more around our town. It turns out that when you have the time to stop and check out that overgrown looking path, or step over that broken bit of fence you can find so many new beautiful places to spend time in!
Just before the pandemic kicked off I had been feeling stressed and overworked, I was getting up early, trying to make sure Shadow was properly exercised before I carted her off to whichever of my friends had kindly agreed to hang out with her while I was at work, rushing home to be able to fit in a nice, long walk before dinner, and trying to squeeze in some all important training sessions before bed. In the early days of having her it felt like maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a dog parent, it felt like I never had the chance to get to know her, like I spent more time stressing over who would look after her the next day than enjoying the time we were together. I guess it’s similar to how many single parents feel about their children. The last three months have definitely been a godsend in giving us that bonding time and I’ve learnt so much more about her and she’s become so much more responsive to me.
It’s also helped that my friend has been staying with us the last few weeks as well with her 5 year old daughter. Shadow met this girl on the very first day she came to the city and they’ve been great friends ever since. Whenever I’m busy or tired or for whatever reason don’t want to play tug of war for the thousandth time, she has a playmate who’s always ready to test her pulling power against another kid. They’re about the same weight as well, so they’re a good match. She’s been meeting more dogs as well lately, some successfully, some unsuccessfully (teenage gsd rebellion phase strikes again!), so we’re working on how to say hello politely and not bound up straight into somebody’s face without ever a sniff hello first. It’s strange that it’s been during a lockdown that she’s probably been more social than ever. I guess the early days of only being allowed outside to exercise/walk your dog really payed off for all the dogs who now get to spend hours a day walking around parks with their owners.
As the Covid situation starts to wind down I’m wondering what our next adventures will be. Certainly now we can hope to start travelling more we can go to visit the Peak District, the Lake District, fells and moors slightly further afield than our town’s borders. But I’m also thinking of getting her a pet passport and looking into visiting mainland Europe for a trip. I’m trying to plan a train ride across countries with my friend who’s staying, but the logistics of rabies vaccinations and vet appointments all seem a bit uncertain right now. It’s something fun to scheme about though, much nicer than the plots and plans about when I could go to work and who would be on puppy duty while I did so that made up my pre-lockdown life.
The lockdown will end, and normal life will resume, but I feel a lot more ready for it now. I guess sometimes you need to be forced off work to really remember that there’s more to life sometimes.
WhatWouldDracoDo? 