A Walker in the Suburbs

Lately I’ve been living the life of a dog-walker. Not a professional dog-walker, mind you, the kind that gets paid, but an amateur — a true amateur, according to the French root of that word, one who loves, who does what she does for love.

And love this little guy I do. We all do.

A couple weeks ago he started limping. Did he hurt his paw? Would it resolve itself? The vet rendered a verdict: Copper had torn his ACL! Who knew canines had anterior cruciate ligaments?

While some dogs have surgery for this, I doubt this dog will. Instead, we’re keeping him quiet and giving him medicine for pain and healing.

Keeping Copper still is not an easy feat. It means barring him from running across the backyard, something he wouldn’t have attempted two weeks ago but now, as he improves, he would love nothing better than to do. I’ve barricaded the deck stairs (his only way out of the house without a leash) and he’s walked a few houses up and down the street when he needs to do his business.

It’s been an interesting interlude, this routine dog walking, quite a departure from the typical Copper experience, which involves holding on for dear life. Instead, the two of us have been meandering more, Copper sniffing, me musing — both of us slowing down and taking life a little easier.

They said it couldn’t be done. They said an old dog can’t learn new tricks.

But I know an old dog who’s learned one, learned more than one if you want to know the truth.

For the last couple of months, Copper has been visited by his doggie cousins, Reese and Bella, a pair of German shepherds being raised by Copper’s original “mama,” Claire. Claire loves doggies, and now she has about 160 pounds of doggies living in her house. But she still has room in her heart for her original “son.”

Copper, who can be a bit curmudgeonly and crotchety, originally reacted much as we thought he would when first Reese and then Reese and Bella came to visit.  He was standoffish and snarly.

But something happened to him when he finally got to know Bella. A younger female seemed like a dog he could handle. At first they just sniffed each other, but eventually they began to play. And now Reese, much larger, a male, is also included in the games.

Last night Copper (10 or more years their senior) led his doggie cousins on a merry chase, taking the corners of the yard like the mostly border collie that he is.

And … there was only one almost-fight … over an ice cube.

As far as I can tell we’ve had a canine miracle in these parts: An old dog learning a new trick!

With the purple coneflowers in bloom, the garden is not just a static creation but a marvelously alive place, with birds and butterflies flitting about to sip nectar from the seeds.

Last weekend I captured this swallowtail, which hovered for more than 20 minutes over the flowerbed, landing and feeding and opening and closing its wings.

Where did it come from? How long will it live? I don’t know much about butterflies, but seeing this one made me want to learn more.

Such is the nature of our times that not only do we receive “Service Feedback” emails from the dog sitting outfit caring for Copper and the parakeets, but the emails also contain photos.

These give me a taste of the current childcare scene, of nanny cams and hidden cameras. The general atmosphere of surveillance that overlays this line of work. It’s a little bit about checking up on and a lot about missing.

Yesterday’s email was a surprise, as was Copper’s “grade” of “B,” which though “Very Good” was not, obviously, good enough. I’m assuming he missed an “A” because he was “a bit testy” during breakfast.

Did the sitter hover too close to his food bowl? Was blood drawn?

I’m hoping the answers to these questions are “no” and “no.” And I was relived that this morning’s email contained an “A+” rating. Copper “was more interested in snuggles than food.” He’s lonely, poor guy. But at least he’s behaving himself.

(Photo: Becky’s Pet Care)