A Lesson Fom My Dogs

I have two dogs. Rusty is a golden retriever/lab mix and Bob is a shar-pei/retriever mix. Each dog has their own distinctive personality.

Rusty loves to play and have fun. Even though he just turned 11 years old, he is very active.

Bob is more serious. He has a stoic expression, like most shar-peis. He will play, but only after Rusty has encouraged him.

Their personalities are easy to observe when I take them for a walk.

I usually keep Rusty off his leash because he is slow enough that I can catch him if he starts to chase something. When I walk Bob, he is on a mission. He wants to get from point A to point B as fast as he can. In his haste, he misses things that Rusty notices. He definitely has a purpose and a mission that he wants to accomplish.

Rusty is the opposite. He takes a few steps into the field and then he starts rolling in the grass. He repeats this process at least 10 times before he catches up to me and Bob (I have to hold Bob back, or Rusty would be left behind). As Rusty is rolling in the grass, he is smiling and having a lot of fun. Rusty eventually gets to point B, but he has fun on the way.

I guess the lesson that I take from this is that it is good to have a purpose in life and to have a mission, but we also need to have fun along the way as we strive to meet our goals.