Bucky Backfire

This week, we are dog-sitting. Bucky's family is in Hawaii for two weeks--poor them. We'll have Bucky with us for one week, and then he'll stay with some other friends the following week.

Bucky is a sweet and affectionate 4-year old Lab mix of some sort and has been very well-trained. He is super polite, never crossing thresholds without permission. We don't even have a threshold into our kitchen, but he never comes into it uninvited. His favorite thing is to catch frisbees in mid-air.

Bucky's other favorite thing is PEOPLE--any people. Although he's never aggressive, he could care less about other dogs. In fact, when Cabana tries to engage him in play, he lays as still as possible on the floor, trying to pretend he's sleeping or perhaps even dead! After a few minutes of Cabana excitedly play nipping, panting, and cajoling, she gives up on him. Not exactly the outcome I had hoped for. I was excited to have Bucky come stay with us so Cabana would have a fun playmate, but that plan has totally backfired.

It's been interesting for me to have Bucky here. Now, 6 months since Cabana was career changed, after all my angst about whether to keep her as our pet, I have never had any regrets. In fact, I often thank my lucky stars, believing that truly there is no better dog in the world for us. But when I saw how people-oriented Bucky is, I confess that I wondered if it wouldn't be nice if Cabana was a bit more people-oriented, too.

That desire lasted about one hour, maybe two.

Since I'm primarily the one that's home with the dogs, I have become the center of Bucky's universe. He is ALWAYS so focused on me, waggling his whole body whenever I even glance his way--which is nice in some ways, but also a bit draining. Because he is so solicitous and always wants to be right next to me, it has made Cabana quite possessive. So she has to glom onto me, too, in order to claim me as her human. Now I know how it feels to be too popular. It's exhausting.

I'll take Cabana's independence over a dog with a "needy" disposition any day. Sure, we all adjust and get used to what we've got--but for me, this was confirmation that we really love and are grateful for Cabana, just the way she is.