a piece of Heaven

We've had Harley for 33 days now. It's only 3:30am so this 33rd day has really started yet. Harley is in his kennel sleeping. Something woke me up so here I am. I'll be heading back to bed in just a few minutes. I'm making a commitment to walk Harley at least 2x each day even if he's giving me a hard time (pulling, biting the leash, throwing himself on the ground, etc.). I'm going to dictate the walk. I haven't been calm and assertive, I've been fearful that he would give me a hard time again. I'm going to use visualization and see Harley and me walking together without incident. I have to project the image in my mind of what I want in reality. I know he can do this and I know that I can do this too. I really am determined to do my best with Harley.

I think I've been nervous about sharing Harley with my friends because I'm afraid that he'll go all puppy on us. He's a puppy and they are older dogs, more laid back dogs. Harley is full throttle even when he's sleeping, he sleeps hard. He puts his whole being into whatever he is doing at the time whether it's playing, relaxing or sleeping. I love that he is committed to himself. I need to be just as committed and not be nervous because that transfers to Harley. He definitely feels what is going on with me. If I'm nervous about him meeting my friends and their dogs then Harley will be nervous meeting them too. I don't want that for Harley.

I just realized that I haven't taken Harley out much in the last couple of days. I think it's because he's been having such difficulty with the leash. I need to get him out there later today. I'll take him over to PetsMart and just walk around with him. I'll just walk up and down the aisles with him. I'd like to bring him up to the trail but it takes way longer to get there and back than it does to be there. I love bringing him up there though. I think I've been quitting too soon with Harley. I know he is capable of so much more than I'm getting out of him right now. I need to rededicate myself to him.

An interesting thought just ran through my mind. Harley is like a little piece of Jesus. What I'm giving to Harley I am learning to give not only to others but to myself. I can rededicate myself to Jesus by doing the same with Harley. Jesus always talks about 'doing for the least of these' is like doing for him. I can see that with my relationship with Harley. I'm not trying to get all profound here but I want to keep this blog real and show the true picture of life with Harley.

So it's day number 33 with Harley. He's learned a lot in one month's time. I think the next trick I'm going to work on with him is to play dead when I say 'bang'. He's already got sit, down and over so I think he could learn to do it all on command (than command being 'bang'). He needs to know how to do a lot of tricks to keep his mind working. Anyway, back to day #33. I'm grateful that I have very little time where I feel like I'm not a good enough owner for Harley. I felt like that all the time with the GSP's. I know I'm the right owner for Harley and I see having him for the rest of his life (or mine, whichever comes first). I am committed to Harley. I am responsible for Harley. He is my dog. I need to put in the time with him. If I don't I'll pay for it later with a misbehaving dog and I don't want that to happen. He's too smart and willing to please me. I need to take advantage of that fact.

I opened Harley's kennel but he had no interest in getting out. I'm surprised that he didn't want to go out to do his business. I'll check his bed in the morning to make sure he didn't pee in his kennel. I wouldn't want him to start doing that especially since he's so good about letting me know when he needs to go out. I rarely think about him having an accident in the house. If he did it would be because I wasn't paying attention to his cues.

I love Harley. I love the changes he is making in my life and I love the changes I'm making in his. He's my little piece of Heaven.