Loki Has Never Been Happier.
I can’t help but notice that there is one member of my family who is actually rather ecstatic about the pandemic, and he doesn’t even know it exists.
Our dog, Loki, has never been happier.
Today I got a haircut. Dylan and Bill were both out, but Shane was still home. In five months, I’m not sure Loki’s been left completely alone. Someone is always in the house with him, being part of his pack.
Six months ago, this was not the case. A haircut would have been something I would have “squeezed in” between work and picking up Shane at play rehearsal. Today it was the highlight – and only activity – of my day.
When I came home, Loki greeted me like I’d been gone for a week.
Loki knows that, lately, when we go somewhere we generally take him with us. He goes on walks. He goes for rides in the car (to the library). Sometimes he even rides with us to pick up take-out or ice cream. He’s even gotten two doggie sundaes in five months!
Sometimes Loki goes on vacation for the day. It’s not quite doggie daycare; he pretends he’s a therapy dog. We loan him out like a good book – but only to people we love. My parents have created a second home for him, and he loves it even more at their house. (They pay even more attention to him than we do.)
When he’s home, Loki bonds with us. We spend hours with this dog, letting him cuddle up next to us at all hours of the day and night. He’s fed with great regularity, and we’re all very well-rested. There’s no shortage to his exercise, and we even play games with him.
The games are mental stimulation – not just for Loki, but for us.
I wonder if, someday, we’ll go back to our fast-paced approach to life. Perhaps in six months, or a year, we’ll be working and schooling and running errands. A haircut will be squeezed in again, and we’ll sometimes go out for entertainment.
Will we then leave the house without so much as a glance at our dog? I wonder if we’ll go back to flinging a treat across the floor and high-tailing it out to the car before we notice his sad eyes. I wonder if he’ll wonder, in the future, what changed.
Quite honestly, I hope the pendulum doesn’t swing back quite that far. I’ve enjoyed spending time with my dog. I’ve enjoyed lying around with few responsibilities and nothing but time on my hands. Yes, I’m bored. But I’ve rediscovered the simple pleasures – one of which is my dog.
The difference, I think, is that he hasn’t changed anything at all. Loki has been right here, wanting to be with us, then and now.