Tonight Dutch and I wandered to the park, one of Dutch’s favorite places to be.
The repetitive throw, fetch, return, repeat process is almost constant.
But tonight Dutch stopped dead in her tracks. It was as if she saw a squirrel, the only thing that has the power to interrupt her game of fetch.
She loves to stare down a squirrel and wait and wait and wait and wait till it moves….
And so, I called her and used her favorite words to try to draw her back. Squirrel, ball, treat….
She didn’t move and yet I could not really see what had stopped her dead in her tracks.
I walked closer and noticed the hair on her back was raised…
I walked closer and realized she was in a frozen state, and I was not breaking her concentration at all…
I actually felt some fear rising in me, wondering what it was that she was going to go to battle with…
And with in moments there was a breeze, movement and Dutch pounced….
And just that quickly she wanted to play fetch again. After all she had just won the battle with a paper bag!
Now, I had to chuckle at the whole scene…
And then I got to thinking…..
Raising her hackles is a sign of aggression and/or fear. This doesn’t mean she is about to attack or anything, but shows that she is on the alert.
I know there are times that I stand paralyzed by the same fear….
Fear that is created by what I perceive as opposed to what is real….
I know there are times that I react to a tone or a comment because I am standing with hackles raised…
And there are even times I pounce and find that really what I feared is not what it appeared…and I chuckle to think how “alive” that paper bag must have looked to my dog Dutch!
I wonder if you know when you are standing with your hackles raised….
When you are in a situation when you are on alert, remember Dutch and the paper bag and see if a little humor might help lighten the moment up!
