Older Wisdom: Tux 35 - Squirrelly Behavior

We were in the park the other day and saw something I’d never seen before. First, though, I heard a new sound. It wasn’t yet another bird’s song I didn’t recognize. The sound sounded familiar yet wasn’t. So what was it?

Tux spotted a movement on a tree and stopped dead in his tracks staring at a tree about 20 feet in front of us. Grace was unperturbed and continued her quest for new smells in the three-inch-high grass. 

I looked around trying to see what had caught Tux’s attention. There was nothing that I could see that was out of the ordinary. In the distance, I saw the Mallards amiably strolling toward their neck of the woods and the pond in the ravine. Across the street from the park, the Westies were sunning themselves in the early morning sun. Nope, nothing extraordinary going on in the park. But Tux was like a statue - standing rigidly still, one front paw pulled up in his classic hunter’s stance. 

As I looked up in the direction that Tux was staring in so intently, I finally saw what he had seen. It was a squirrel. Nothing unusual about seeing a squirrel in the park. This squirrel though, was quite different. He had a plastic cup in his mouth. And he wasn’t about to drop it just because some Cocker Spaniel hunter came into view. He was angry at being disturbed. He was chittering at us, but the sound came out muffled as he chittered behind his cup.

The squirrel had stopped in his tracks and was starring at Tux. Tux stared back at the squirrel. I stared at the squirrel. The squirrel ignored me. It was Tux he was interested in. Grace finally figured out that Tux and I were mesmerized by something so she looked in the direction we were looking. She saw the squirrel and then she looked at me as if to ask what was so interesting about a silly old squirrel?

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d never seen a squirrel carrying even a branch let alone a plastic cup. I couldn’t imagine what had struck this squirrel about the cup. One thing was for sure, though, he was not going to drop his cup. Before I could dig my iPhone out of my pocket to take a photo of the squirrel, he was on the move.

The squirrel surprised me. Instead of heading up the tree and to safety, he came down the tree toward the ground. What was he thinking? Down he came. About six inches from the ground, he jumped down. Sprinting toward another tree, he jumped onto it and scurried upward.

In the meantime, we all stood stock still watching the squirrel. He never dropped his precious cup. I surmised he had headed to his home tree. I suspected, too, he had a nest in the tree he risked life, limb, and cup to reach. I looked upward, but saw no discernible nest in the boughs of the large tree. 

Tux was reluctant to leave the scene. He undoubtedly thought that either the squirrel with his cup still firmly gripped between his teeth would return or this was a trend and another squirrel with a cup would come down the tree. Neither event occurred and I dragged him back onto the path and on to our morning walk.

Lesson Learn:

Keep an eye out for the unexpected.

Older Dog Wisdom: Peer Pressure

Tux and I were out walking the other day when he put his nose to the ground and walked a few steps. When he looked up, he had a small red leaf hanging from his ear. Much to my surprise, he didn’t try to shake it off. In fact, he looked quite rakish with his new dangly earring. His walk changed - he walked slower, prouder.

When we rounded a corner, a woman and her two large dogs were approaching. We had met them a week earlier and the dogs were polite. One of them started trash talking. It was only then that Tux shook off the leaf. No sooner had the earring flown off his ear than he lunged at the trash-talking dog. I’m not sure what had been said, but Tux definitely took umbrage with it. I’m sure, though, it had something to do with Tux’s new earring.

Whenever Tux does something out of the ordinary, I try to figure out if there is something to be learned from his actions. Tux felt good wearing his earring right up to the moment when that other dog made fun of him. Then, he shook off the earring. He obviously hasn’t learned that it’s okay to march to a different drummer. He allowed someone else to dictate how he should dress and what should make him feel good about himself. That is a very hard lesson to learn regardless of how old you are. I was sad to see him shake off his earring, it had added to his self esteem. I’d like to shake the other dog for making Tux feel self conscious about something that had made him feel special.

I suspect for we humans this begins as soon as we enter school. Peer pressure begins almost immediately. My four-year-old niece, who is in pre-school, has been allowed to choose how to dress every morning for some time. Some of her outfits have had her family members, her grandmothers, aunts, cousins, and mother, cringing. Out we go, though, with her dressed in purple striped leggings and orange print dress with a blue t-shirt over the dress. We all agree it will be a sad day when she begins dressing like her schoolmates. We’ll miss her individuality.

For a short time, Tux was where my niece is - proudly wearing his earring. Then he ran into the trash talking dog and graduated to where my niece will undoubtedly be when she enters primary school. It was a sad day.

There is, of course, nothing I can do about the blow to Tux’s self esteem. I’m hoping, though, that my niece is enough of an individual to withstand first grade peer pressure. Maybe with the help of her Mom and aunties, she’ll retain at least some of her unique sense of fashion. Her grandmothers, on the other hand, can’t wait for the peer pressure to begin.