Commentary
Related Photos
-
Cindy Starks
Related Links
A dog named Bailey, a thing called patience
I love reading Ward Degler’s columns on his dog, Brutie. Today I have a dog story. My family has a year-old black lab named Shadow, whom we bought as a puppy from a Pittsboro breeder for our son, Joe. She’s been a wonderful pet and companion, with a bright, outgoing personality, ever playful and inquisitive. (Translation: she jumps on everyone and tries to eat goose poop on our walks).
A few months ago, we started thinking about getting a second dog as a playmate for Shadow. We knew we wanted another lab. But another puppy? Not so much. We went online and found Love of Labs Indiana, a local lab rescue group (www.lolin.org). Hands down, this organization is the most efficient I’ve ever dealt with. We filed an online application on a Friday and got a call the next day. Within five days, we were approved to adopt and went online to see the available dogs.
The featured dog was “Cubby,” a sweet-looking, 2-year-old, black, male lab wearing a red neckerchief. The write-up on him said he was a little shy and skittish, but lovable and gentle. I liked Cubby from the get-go, but my husband and son liked Ike and Dixon, two more macho-looking dogs. Since I do most of Shadow’s care-giving, my husband and son agreed I’d get first pick.
We met Cubby and his foster mom, Lola, on a Saturday afternoon at a park in Brownsburg, where she lives. He and Shadow sniffed each other, and all was well. Cubby let us pet him and walk him on a leash. He seemed like a good dog — not a barker, his foster mom assured us — with a more serene disposition to balance Shadow’s peppier one. He was also crate-trained and house-broken. Before we left, we decided Cubby was the “guy” for us and agreed to pick him up the next day.
Interestingly, we were advised to give Cubby a new name to signify a break from his past. I chose “Bailey,” perhaps because of George Bailey, the character Jimmy Stewart plays in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” one of my favorite movies. Whatever the reason, Bailey seemed like a good fit for this little guy.
We drove home and, after first walking him around the neighborhood (as fans of Cesar Milan’s “Dog Whisperer” know to do), we brought Bailey into our fenced-in yard with Shadow. To say the two dogs ignored each other would be an understatement. After a while, we tried to get Bailey to come into the house. No dice. No amount of “treat” offers could entice him to cross the threshold from our patio steps into our kitchen. In fact, he wasn’t motivated by food at all.
And so it went. More days of ignoring Shadow, more refusals to come inside. (Don’t worry, gentle reader, we put a leash on Bailey for walks, to bring him inside for an afternoon rest in his crate and each evening to sleep). But my son and I began to think Bailey was a bust.
My husband encouraged us to have patience. Things will change, he said. Things will change. Bailey will get used to us and be a great pet. We tried patience.
And so it happened. This week, Bailey started playing with Shadow. They ran around the yard; they wrestled a chew toy together; they lay down side by side. Now they do this each day.
As I write this column, Bailey is lying at my feet; Shadow’s sleeping on the sofa. Bailey is still not the most eager to come inside, but he will take a treat and cross the threshold. I walk the two of them every day and Bailey walks proudly, tail held high, disdaining the goose poop Shadow still enthusiastically gobbles.
I think the lesson of Bailey is one we all need when we’re discouraged by a difficult child, a goal we’re trying to reach or a situation we need to weather. Have patience. Things will change. Have patience. Things will change.
A lifelong Connecticut resident, Cynthia DiTallo Starks and her family moved to Zionsville in 2006. E-mail her at cindy.starks@timessentinel.com.
- Commentary
-
-
Oddities for sale
While searching the Internet for a gift for my eldest daughter, I happened upon a website that sold straitjackets.
-
My blending project
When I got divorced, I was certain that I would never get married again. Not only was I not interested in putting up with another man, but the divorce rate for second marriages is even higher than the rate for first marriages.
-
When stuck, act like a Chilean miner
On one side of the stair rail, two chubby legs kicked up and down as if in a swimming pool. On the other side, a tear-stained, reddened face howled for help.
-
The warnings of Sulfite
In my newsletter I try to touch on the subject of sulfite every few years because this seems to happen on a pretty regular basis. The latest visit was from the couple who were just back from Europe.
-
The numbers don’t add up
• 500 million: number of eggs recalled
• 1,300: reported cases of salmonella
• 82,000: number of hens allowed before a CAFO permit is required in Indiana
• 6: days needed for CAFO eggs to cool down
• 13: cost in pennies per industrialized CAFO egg
-
Untangling the Kudzu for a new school year
While walking the dogs on a country road the other day, I noticed a for sale sign on a lot hidden behind an overgrowth of vines and brush. The vague imprint of tire tracks nearby reminded me a house was visible on the lot a few short months ago. Gray, dilapidated and abandoned, nature totally disguised the house from sight after just one summer of neglect.
-
Germs are OK…sometimes
I saw a commercial last week for a motion activated soap dispenser. The announcer said something to the effect of did you know your soap dispenser pump is covered with germs?
-
Trying to tame the homework monster
“I can’t take it!! Four hours of homework every night — it’s just too much. What are these teachers thinking?”
-
Good year for crabgrass
Q: My lawn seems to be mostly crabgrass this year. What are reasons that my lawn has much more crabgrass than my neighbor’s lawn? A.N. Zionsville
-
The favor of a reply is requested
My best friend from high school used a rubber stamp and ink to stamp a message on the envelope of every letter he would mail (this was way before e-mail came about). The message said, “The favor of a reply is requested,” and it appeared just below a picture of an animal — I think it was a penguin.
- More Commentary Headlines
-
