Our First W

In recent weeks I've had reason to think back on our first W. Before Kathy and I got together, everyone took turns walking Oz. Kathy did it sometimes, Jon did, Zach did (her sons), and Beth did.

However, when we started dating, Zach was the one who was around the house most often. Kathy would ask him to take Oz out and he would agree. And then he would stay hypnotized, staring at his computer screen, chatting, gaming, etc. And Oz would wait patiently by the door. Well, patiently at first. Then she'd start to whimper, just a little. Then she'd whimper more, and shift around a little. Some of the time Kathy would ask Zach again. He'd agree, sure, no problem. And then he'd sit until she screamed at him, and, eventually, he'd give in.

One evening Oz was starting to whimper and Zach was in his "Sure, no problem, right away" loop. Kathy asked if I would mind taking Oz out for a walk."Um…okay. I'm not very good at it, though." I've always been a cat person. The idea of controlling or restraining an animal was pretty foreign to me.

"Oh, no problem. She's a good dog. The leash is over there."

I found it, and Oz immediately started bounding around, left, right, ha! Then Kathy said, "Sit," and she did, even though she was vibrating. Kathy showed me how to clip the leash on, which I probably could have figured out, but hey, and then we walked outside. It was evening, and apparently the coming night smelled delicious!

We zigged and zagged and squatted and peed, and, looking back, I think Oz knew pretty early that she had a live one. I never knew why we went from the near side of the street to the ditch at the far side, but I was game. And then we went back. When Oz stopped to smell, I'd sort of stare at her. Do I pull? Coax? What's too hard? I'd pull about enough to dent a marshmallow. Nope, not enough. (Not only was it not enough to get Oz to move, I'm not sure she noticed.)

Eventually she moved on, and so did I. No adventure that first W, and no real response on my part except a low level confusion and a relief that I got through it without losing the dog. Whew!

Greg