This past sunday.. I was in a particularly lazy mood.
It had snowed all morning, I was on my fifth episode of Angel for the weekend, and I had defiantly decided that I would not get off the couch until weather conditions improved.
Then I got bored.
I had two choices, get some new songs ready for Bust-a-Move class that evening, or walk the dog.
These are always my two choices... exercise myself, or my dog. I have never been able to have both.
When the dog doesn't get his exercise he pounces around the house like a wanna be Mexican jumping bean and howls until you go insane.
When I don't get my exercise, my ass just grows.... and I don't really see it that much, so I don't really care.
Therefor the dog usually wins out, and instead of doing something constructive or creative with my body, I wind up doing something to tire him out.
I have had to get a little more creative since the biking accident that I'm still not ready to speak of...
So for the past week our "walks" involve me walking him on leash until we are out of the dreaded "chicken zone".
(Our neighbour has a chicken coop, and it is the dog's life mission to get into it, which makes one of my life missions keeping him away from it).
I then remind him I have a tupperware container full of gravy soaked treats in my pocket (the rest of Nova Scotia is terrified of coyotes, I on the other hand enjoy walking around the woods smelling like bait)
And I let him go.
And pray he comes back.
There have been moments, say the morning he decided to make friends with a grey seal.... the seal did not want to make friends back... fortunately everyone got away from that situation with no scars.
(If you don't count my throat and the amount of screaming I did- to no avail- that could have rivaled an Aerosmith concert).
But all in all it's been a successful week.
So I got a little braver.
I got dressed, loaded my I-pod with new possible songs, and made a choice to exercise both the dog, and my self.
Please note, that I live in the middle of no where... other than Sonny and his chicken coop, there is no one but my parents within a 4 or 5 acre distance.
And they've already seen me make and ass of myself a million times.
So that is why I felt comfortable heading to the beach to practice dance routines.
Well I will admit, at first I wasn't so comfortable.
I found a clear spot on a path, and tried to warm up to "Rompe", but couldn't, because I was too busy checking over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching me.
But eventually I got to our wide open beach, and decided to go all in.
Remember it's still mid-winter here, and it was in fact still snowing, but it wasn't windy so it wasn't cold.
I took off some layers and went from looking like this
to this
you can judge yourself if that's any improvement.
The dog by the way was behaving excellently. He was pouncing all over the grass, chasing imaginary mice or birds.
(I pretend they are imaginary, and just pray he never gets one. He's not very focused, so I don't believe he ever will,the ADD does not make Huskies very good predators)
And I was full on into choreography, Beyonce and J-Lo blasting from the I-Pod.
If someone had of happened to spy on that secluded beach they would have seen me, in my bright yellow "don't run me over" hat my Mom bought me. Punching and grapevining and petit battementing like I'm auditioning for some sort of cross between Rocky VII and Black Swan.
As I take a break, and call for the dog he comes barreling towards me from the far and of the beach. And I start to have visions of being able to do this all the time.
How great!! A chance to workout, and a dog that listens (at least to the word "treat") all at once!!
I'm a normal dog owner!!
No more 30 foot ropes that wrap around my niece at the beach and almost scar her ( literally) for life.
No more tying 20 pound weights to his leash to slow him down and tire him out.
No more driving around the neighbourhood with half a steak out the window hoping he'll come home.
(I simply need to keep that half a steak in my right hand pocket)
As he draws nearer, I have visions of having a new songs every week for class and at the same time a dog that is calm and happy .
As those visions clear, I get a clearer vision of my dog.
And the half of an animal carcass hanging out of his mouth.
As I try to convince him that he wants a stupid half a piece of Milkbone, smothered in turkey gravy instead of half a frozen seabird he found out on the marsh I realize.
I'm a normal dog owner.
Whose dog will roll in stinky things, run through swampy mud puddles and bring me back 6 month old carcasses he finds along the way.
Some times the grass seems greener on the other side, usually all you find when you get over there is they use stronger smelling manure to fertilize it with.
