Straight-Like-A-Stick, Part 1

I was so excited the day I was going to the park with my best friend, Luca. We were going to spend all our time climbing up a big blue mountain, sliding down, over and over, and have so much fun!

But that didn't go quite as I planned because when I got to the top of the big blue mountain, it was so very high and I got really scared.

My heart was beating too loudly, my paws felt stuck and shaky, and I couldn't slide down to my Mama waiting at the bottom and have lots of fun with my best friend Luca.

And I was extra mad because this wasn't the first time this had happened!

Every time dogs from the neighborhood come walking down MY street and think it's okay to sniff on MY lawn as if it's theirs, I want to go outside and chase them away, but I'm always too scared, so I end up staying inside and hoping that my barking will get them to leave.

I was mad because I wanted to be a very brave dog, and I just wasn't.

I was sad because I didn't end up doing a lot of the fun things I wanted to do.

I tried to figure out why, but my brain just couldn't.

So I did what I usually do when I don't know what to do - I went to tell Mama about my newest big trouble because somehow she always knows the best solution to put things back in order..

Mama said if I wanted to know why I was sometimes too scared to do things I really did want to do, then I needed to try to find a pattern and see if anything else also happened when I was scared, like I was at the park, because it would probably help me understand why this kept happening.

And now I was mad at Mama because I knew she had the answer, but she wasn't telling me.

But luckily for me, I already knew how to find a good pattern because I'd done it before, and one was even about Mama. The pattern I figured, because I started paying more attention, was that whenever we went in the car and Mama sang more songs---and much more loudly---we always ended up at either the vet or the groomer. But you might be wondering how knowing this pattern helped me at all, because I still always ended up at either the vet or the groomer, and was not very happy.

But here's how it helped.

Because I knew this pattern and what would happen, I had time to put a plan in my head and tell myself to try and stay calm and try not to be as scared as the last time this happened. But what I chose not to put in the plan was to help my paws get unstuck and keep moving. I decided that was something for Mama to figure out in her very smart head, which I knew when she was doing it, because all of a sudden, she wasn't singing so loudly.

So I knew how to find patterns and would find this one too.

And because I'm also smart like my Mama, I found a pattern. Every time I really wanted to do something but didn't, my tail always happened to be straight-like-a-stick.

I was so happy to find this new pattern because it meant it wasn't me who wasn't brave, but my tail, causing me all kinds of trouble.

So now I didn't need Mama's help because I had it all figured out, and all I had to do now was get rid of my tail. When I thought about getting rid of my tail, causing trouble, it made me very happy because now I wouldn't get scared and not do the things I really wanted. But it also made my heart a little sad because I loved how my not-straight-as-a-stick wagged from side to side when I was doing things I loved to do.

But this wasn't a good enough reason not to get rid of the thing that was ruining my fun, making me scared, making my heart beat too loudly, and making my paws feel stuck and shaky.

And this wasn't the only reason it was time ot get rid of my tail.

I don't think it was very fair that it was always only me who felt scared, but never my tail.

And the reason I know that my tail didn't feel bad, just like I know I'll never have a day without a treat from my Mama, was because I only felt bad from my head to my toes, and not from my head to my tail. And I also didn't like that, besides Mama taking me to the vet or the groomer and the big blue mountain and the dogs on the lawn, I never knew when my tail would get straight-like-a-stick and spoil all my fun.

So, all that was left was to chase my tail far away.

But no matter how much I chased it around, I could never catch it, and all that happened was that I became more and more dizzy.

Ugh, so I guess I did need my Mama to help after all, to figure out a plan to get rid of the tail. And I knew she could help because this was her job—fixing problems and finding patterns others couldn't, so she could help them keep their paws moving and also have lots more fun.

But when I went to ask Mama to help me get rid of my tail, it didn't quite go as I expected. I was really shocked when my very smart Mama said that my tail wasn't really the problem. She said I'd be very sorry if I chased it because it really was a friend that just needed my help.

Now, I know well enough that my Mama is always right, but this was too much – this could never be right.

And I told my Mama that it was absolutely impossible that my straight-like-a-stick tail was really my friend and not the cause of all my troubles, because friends don't try to ruin your fun and make you feel scared.

But then Mama told me to remember our rule –  that before I decide what I think might be true, I should sniff all around and about to make sure I didn't miss something that might change my mind…

So, because I know Mama is almost never wrong, except when she's, then the opposite is true. I now have to start all over again to see what I might not have sniffed out before about the big problem I was having.

To be continued...

Toffy xoxo #lifewithtoffy #toffysdogblog #thinkliketoffy PS! If you liked this edition of Toffy’s Dog Blog, please share it with your friends and family and help me share my message to live*love*play!