When There Is A Will Many of you already know Magoo. Magoo, or Goo as we call him, is a senior poodle mix that was found as a stray about six months ago by Lake County Animal Control. We were asked to take the little guy because a no kill humane society gave the senior, blind dog a better chance of getting adopted. He arrived a mess, heavily matted and really stressed. He came to live with me and thanks to groomer Annie K. he received a much-needed hair cut and he settled onto life at the orphanage. He must have been blind for a while because in short order he learned to navigate around. But also in short order he became attached to me...literally. This dog must have always suffered with some form of separation anxiety and now coupled with the unpredictable movements of the other dogs, chairs, child and being blind he relied on me...too much. I was carrying him everywhere because when I put him down he would bark non-stop at me and jump up on my legs insistently until I picked him up. I dont remember now exactly when it started or evolved to such a state but it has. And when I tell you he barks at me non-stop I kid you not. There is NO ignoring him. So, I said to myself, we will fix this. And so I got a pouch to carry him around in. It was a cotton sling-style contraption. He LOVED his pouch, which quickly became The Goo Pouch and life was good...well at least it was blissfully more quiet. I coped with having a appendage attached to me. It brought back memories of my pregnancies. I would carry him around most often, getting breaks when he ate in his crate, went outside for potty time, sat with me at my office desk or to watch television. And of course I got a bigger break when I left the building. But even with those breaks my back and neck were hurting just a bit and many of my Facebook friends cautioned me to be careful you dont hurt yourself carrying him around like that. Goo has become quite the volunteer. With any of our long termers I feel it both practical and necessary to put those animals that spend any length of time with us to work. I reason that we are physically and emotionally caring for them, they are living under our roof and are costing us money. That then warrants their exchange of services. Goo, along with Ziggy and Liberty are all working in exchange for their care. So as is pretty typical Goo went with me, in his pouch, to numerous events last week. I guess thats when my neck said, enough is enough and without me even making the connection of neck-completely-out-of-place and Magoo, I went to the chiropractor, my neck in terrible shape. What did you do? My doctor asked me after she made an adjustment. Your neck is worse than out of place. My answer: I have no idea. I was perplexed because if anything I have lower back problems that have plagued me all my life. That was the first time I had any neck pain. On the way home from the doctor it dawned on me...MAGOO!! So, anyway, I knew that at least more often than not, the pouch would have to take a break so I dont break. I began carrying Goo around more just in my arms and doing much in my life one handed. I was getting quite good at it but it was not fun. I also put him down more and just tried really hard to tune out the non-stop barking. But seriously now it was DRIVING ME CRAZY. Meanwhile I asked my husband Chuck to get me new headphones to use when I go on my long spirit walks. My Spirit Walks are walks I take that can last a few hours and many miles. I have a pair of earphones that goes inside your ears but they are a bit annoying because they fall out and I am always fussing with them. So I asked Chuck to get me big ones that go over my ears. Yesterday they arrived. I looked at Chuck and said, oh no, these are SO NERDY. I am not particularly vain and by no means do I keep up with trends or fashion but I do have some sense of right and wrong when it comes to fashion. So even though the earphones, I felt, were super nerdy I really wanted comfortable earphones to listen to music when I walk. I put them on and pushed the play button on my phone. The music was magical, well worth the not-so-fashionable look. At that moment I looked at Goo standing there barking his head off, his body going up and down with each bark as he jumped up on my legs and I realized that the NOISE WAS MUFFLED! Yes! I could still hear things around me (very necessary) but the noise of his barking, well, it was far less grading on my nerves! So, when Ive had it up to my eyeballs with carrying Goo or for necessity need to put him down, I can just slip onto my head by BEAUTIFUL and FUNCTIONAL headphones. It is my firm belief in life that when there is a will there is a way. Another good saying is when one door shuts another one opens or another good one beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Another one that applies here is persistence pays off. I think in this case all four of those wise sayings apply. Have a great day everyone!!
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 14:19:36 +0000
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