Two Years with the Shmansington Bear

Last Updated on: 29th March 2015, 11:11 am

I’m a few days late on this, but oh well.

Wednesday was the two-year anniversary of when Tansy exuberantly entered my life. I can hardly believe it. Two years. I looked at what I was up to 2 years ago today. It looks like Tansy hadn’t worn her boots for me for the first time yet, but that was going to happen the next day. We were almost done our first week of training together.

I don’t have too many new observations to write down, but I suppose I should put them here. Last winter, she hated getting groomed in the cold. She would run to her crate and hide, and I’d have to make her go out there. This winter, when I get out the grooming pack, she gets super excited. I can’t figure out why, but hey, it makes my life easier so I’m not gonna complain. The only thing I can think of is one time, she snuck a bone out onto the balcony. The next time we went out there, and she saw that bone, it was like Christmas. Now I think she hopes there’ll be a surprise bone waiting for her out there.

I could be nuts, but I think she’s trying to figure out what I want when I go to the Tim Hortons in the mall. You know how the lines in food court Tim Hortons are all screwy? There’s a gap to let people walk through and the line resumes way far from the actual counter. Once she realizes I don’t want to just pass on through, she’s started edging over towards the rest of the line. It’s not perfect, but it’s something.

She also loves pointing out that our bus is here. I don’t know if this is just something she does in the cold when she’d really like to get in where it’s warm, or whether this will continue in the summer, but it’s helpful and cute.

She’s happy to once again not have to wear those horrible boot things. I do believe we have survived another winter. It’s not totally gone, and I shouldn’t get too gleeful yet, but there is a lot of hope in the air.

I’m also happy to report that we have managed to peel off those extra hound pounds. I might even be able to tighten up that belly strap back to where it was. We’ll see. The vet tech thinks she could lose a tiny touch more, but we’re in a much happier place. Now let’s keep it that way, shall we.

On the less happy news front, a couple of my classmates haven’t had the smoothest 2 years with their pooches. The lady who I scared by talking about traffic check day had to retire her dog because he became too anxious. She went back and got another one, and they seem to be doing well together. I think she’s had her new bud for about 6 months. The other guy who’s had a rough time just had to retire his dog recently. He’s the one who tricked all the dogs into stopping by his door because he had rubbed kibble on the door frame. I thought it was a great technique. He’s also the one who asked me if I ever wake up not thinking that day is the best day of my life. He’s a good guy. He was worried about me when I was fighting my battles with the captain. I have no idea how long he’ll have to wait for a new dog.

I just realized something. Those 2 rode together in the same van. Hope it’s not jinxed. Hahah.

Overall, Tansy still has a lot of puppy in her, but she has learned one heck of a lot in 2 years. It blows my mind.

In a week and a day, we will mark the two-year anniversary of our graduation together. I really hope we have many many more years working together. What do you say, Tans?

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