Should we really play tug with that?
I consider it one of our greatest accomplishments that Scout's expanding her idea of what constitutes a “toy”.
We forgot a dog toy when we explored Coral Pink Sand Dunes, so Sean tried to convince Scout it was okay to play with his glove. She shook it with glee after several minutes of encouragement.
On a jog in Wisconsin’s northwoods, we had nothing but our old slip lead on hand when our cattle dog asked for a game. We eventually got her to tug with that, too.
At Thunder Hole, it was Sean’s shoe she chased. In Newfoundland, her slip lead again. Across the continent, so many random things: In the last two years Scout has tugged with gloves and hats and footwear and leashes and tree branches and small squeaky stuffed animals and a dozen other objects I am forgetting to mention.
Her joy ignites my own.
As I think about all the things Scout will play with nowadays, I have to ask: Isn’t this what most people don’t want? How many pet owners have cried to trainers that their dog eats shoes, chews leashes, steals gloves and socks and washcloths? And here I am cheering “good girl!” when Scout finally grabs Sean’s shoelaces in her teeth and thrashes his size thirteen in a fierce kill shake.
I suppose I should give the caveat that my blue heeler did not come to us very playful. She’s never had serious problems with destructive behavior and is still on average timid and reserved. When she is willing to throw herself into tug with an object not usually classified as “toy”, it feels like a big win—like we have finally created clarity about the fun we can have in all sorts of environments and with all sorts of props.
It has never been about the toy. It has always been about the game.
Our game.
We celebrate because I want Scout to have a personality. We celebrate because I love that she is her own creature. We celebrate because it is her goofiness, her individuality, her Scout-ness that makes me love her so much.
And I want the same joy for my dog that I feel when I swim in a glacial lake at sunrise or dance with Sean at a bar we’ve never visited before or break into song while grocery shopping. I want to give her the same sense of being alive—awake—awash in wonder no matter how grand or mundane her surroundings might be.
And if giving her that means doing something often frowned upon—teaching her to ask about playing with anything within reach—then why the hell not? It is me and her in this life together. I’d never grab a stranger’s shoe to play with, but why not my own? Why not Sean’s, when he offers it so willingly? Why not her old leash? Why not whatever we happen to have with us? We can tell her “no” if needed. We can rein her in.
The thing is: We almost never have to.
I never want to.
So I consider it one of our greatest accomplishments that Scout has expanded her idea of what constitutes a toy. That more and more often, she will play with more and more objects. That while watching the sunrise in Acadia National Park, she for the first time gripped a shoe fully—the way our foster puppy Joey did when he started to get his strength back all those years ago—and shook it like the spokeswoman for the Hokey Pokey.
I love her.
I love her, I love her, I love her. And oh, how much more relaxed I am about her rules nowadays. Oh, how much work we put in to reach the place where that felt possible. Oh, how much happier we both are.
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Other notes and news
Writer friends: I still have some free subscriptions to give out to The Forever Workshop! Email me if you’d like one 😁
Our most recent Wacky Training Wednesday shenanigan involved proofing Scout’s sit stay while I threw a bunch of her toys around.
I got tattoo number 15 this week! Added a bull skull to my patchwork sleeve arm in honor of our time out west so far this autumn. Huge S/O to Cheyenne at Emerald Tattoo, who was a total joy to be around.
Scout and I just spent almost a week by ourselves while Sean traveled for work, and I was reminded once again that although I love living in a van… I think I’d hate doing it on my own 24/7.
In case you missed it
I recently wrote about cozy Scout, featuring adorable photos of her wrapped up like a lil’ pointy-eared burrito.
