Older Dog Wisdom #19 - Wait & See

In the battle for the Alpha Dog position going on in our home on a daily basis, Tux is gaining ground, but his sister, Grace, is sneaky. She easily makes him look foolish. She’ll be lying quietly minding her own business, when suddenly she gives a bark - just one - it doesn’t need to be loud - just loud enough for Tux to hear. 

Tux, who thinks of himself as the household’s protector, leaps up from his nap, and runs barking into the living room to save the day. There is, of course, nothing and no one there. He returns to the family room looking rather sheepish and knowing he’s been had by his sister yet again.

I keep thinking he might catch on to her ruse, but he’s forgetful. She may not try it again for a few days, and by then there is no trace of her trick in his mind. She barks, he runs, he returns. 

Every once in a blue moon, she barks, he runs, and the doorbell rings. He saves the day, and he nanner-nanners her because she didn’t rush into the living room being all protective and now she’s looking pretty foolish.

For some unknown reason, our doorbell has begun ringing on it’s own. Not often, maybe once a month. When I open the front door, there is no one there. Tux looks at me all confused. There’s supposed to be someone there. But there’s not. Then it’s Grace’s turn to nanner-nanner her brother - and me - as we make our way back to the family room. She may not get it right every time, but she is vindicated at least once a month. We’ve figured out that it’s not the kids in the neighborhood ringing the bell. I’ve got no idea why the doorbell spontaneously rings. It’s one of those things like WiFi or electricity - it’s there, it works, and I don’t necessarily care how it gets to me, I’m just glad that it’s here when I need it.

I keep telling Tux not to react to Grace’s bark. To wait and see if there’s really someone at the door. But she barks, he runs.

Lesson Learned

For we humans, this sort of thing happens all too often. Something happens in the bigger world outside our homes, and we get ourselves in a dither. We may see headlines or hear the lead stories day after day, and then nothing. It has all amounted to a non-story. Think in terms of some politician raising a hue and cry about something, we get ourselves all excited about the subject, and then it simply fades away. Or something circulates at the office as if it were fact, we get all fired up about it. A few days later, it turns out to be nothing more than a rumor. When will we learn to wait and see? Probably never, perhaps we’re hard wired to react to things, maybe we love the adrenaline rush it gives us. Maybe, though, we need to add a little excitement in our lives.