I have learned how important it is to be around good people and do good deeds. But it was only a little while ago that I learned about careful wishes.
A few months ago, I had the best idea; well, I thought it was the best idea, but then things took an unexpected turn.
Every day when mama and I go for our walk, we always stop at the Guard House to visit Brian and Pete. They are so pawsome. I get treats and lots of love, and I get to watch them do their impawtant job to make sure there's no stranger danger in our community. It's lots of fun watching what they do.
So, while we were out walking one day, I started thinking about how impawtant their job was, how much they loved it, and how happy they made everyone coming and going. So, I decided I would become a Security Dog and do good deeds with good people too.
When I told mama what I wanted to do, she said she wasn't surprised because I love learning new things, and I love being with people and helping out when I can. And, best of all, she said she would teach me to become the best Security Dog I could be. I was so excited she would be my teacher and coach.
And I also kept wondering why she wasn't surprised I wanted to be a Security Dog and not something else. She said she would tell me another time, but right now, there was a lot to learn, and we needed to get started. A "red toy" went up straight away for me. It seemed like she was going to take this seriously, and I was leaning more toward a fun, "go-with-the-flow" helping hobby type of experience.
And I was right. Mama said I should know that if we were going to do this, then we were going to do it properly, and we would need a game plan. But I was still in the "go with the flow" helping hobby idea, and I thought the flow would be the game plan.
All of a sudden, I wasn't so sure about this idea of mine.
But mama already had a notebook and colored markers and sticky notes out. And when mama gets her notebook and markers and sticky notes out, you know it's not going to be a "go with the flow" experience.
On the one paw, I really wanted to be a security dog, but on the other paw, all of a sudden, my "go-with-the-flow" helping hobby idea was turning into Operation Security Dog.
I really should have been more careful about what I had wished for and thought about this more before I barked my idea out. I was already kind of being a Security Dog. I went to the Guardhouse when I wanted, I watched Brian and Pete do their job, I got to spend time with them, I got treats, and I left when I was ready to leave. What was I thinking telling mama I wanted to be a real Security Dog? "Floof. Floof! Toffy, look here." Maybe mama changed her mind, then I could keep mine. No, that wasn't happening... "Let's go see Brian and Pete and make sure they're okay with my game-plan." I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be. Mama was too excited! And when she decides to do something and gets excited about it, there's no turning back. I asked mama if it was going to take a village to become a security dog. That would tell me how big a deal Operation Security Dog was going to be. Maybe it wouldn't be as intense as I thought. But then mama said that, in a way, it had already taken a village, and we'd just have to add to our village if we needed to. She said she'd explain all of this later. Oh, my dawg!!! What the dawg was I thinking? It seemed like there would be a lot of explaining later that was another big "red toy", but mama was already in "let's get this done mode". And when mama is in "let's get this done mode," nothing will stop her. And as much as I love our walks, I was ready to skip this one and go get my own notebook and colored markers and sticky notes and figure out my own game plan. I needed to get myself out of this dawg house I had put myself into as fast as pawsible. But we were already halfway to the Guard House.
Mama told Brian and Pete that I wanted to become a Security Dog so that when I came to visit them, I could help out properly. I thought I was helping out properly. Had mama lost her mind? But Brian and Pete were also so excited about the news that I was going to learn how to become a Security Dog and help them out.
A silver paw appeared! Maybe everyone would agree that it would be best for Brian and Pete to train me. After all, they were real the Security Guards, not mama, and they are more of the get things done and "go with the flow" kind of people. But then they said that if mama showed them how to teach me to be a security dog, they would HELP! What? I needed them to do more than help! I needed to take over Operation Security Dog!
And just in case I wasn't already sure that mama's approach wasn't going to work for me, she started telling me how lucky I was to have such good role models like Brian and Pete to learn from. She also said my uncle David and cousin Jareth were excellent at security, so we could also ask them for extra help if we needed it. Mama said Brian, Pete, uncle David, and Jareth would all be part of my village to become a Security Dog, and that having their help would make it so much easier to learn what I needed to know.
I still wasn't sure why we needed such a big game plan and a village! I already knew what to do: help Brian and Pete make sure there was no stranger danger from anyone coming in or out of our community and make sure everything around the Guard House was safe. How could I not be doing this properly already? Maybe when Brian and Pete saw how much I did know, my wish could be saved and still be a "go with the flow' helping hobby thing instead of Operation Security Dog.
But then at wave of explaining came.
Mama said that while I was learning how to be a Security Dog, I might make mistakes, and that was okay. I might get frustrated. There might be days I'd rather just stay home and eat rice cakes and watch Bluey. Well, it already was that day! And she said there might be days when I would feel like I'd never become a Security Dog. But she said if I didn't give up and kept practicing, I would become a pawmazing Security Dog. She said anyone can do things when they feel like it, but only some people do those things when they don't feel like it, and this was an impawtant quality that made all the difference in achieving your dreams.
But I was definitely relating more to the people who only did things when they felt like it.
Then she said, "You know you've chosen a very impawtant job to do." Job? What job? I didn't want a job. I was just wanting a casual helping hobby thing...you know...go when I felt like it, stay as long as the treats were good, leave when I'd had enough. That's what I had in mind. And it's not that I don't like learning or doing hard things, and I love helping out, but this isn't quite what I had in mind. And this sounded like a long-term commitment, with mama possibly being very bossy.
I really should have thought this through better. Mama was definitely in a "get things done mode". Maybe because she's building a new business and that definitely needs a "get things done" attitude. And that's the clue I missed. She always says "how you do anything is how you do everything". How did not realize my "go with the flow" helping hobby was going to get done like mama was getting her business done?
What the dawg? I had to figure out a plan to get out of this. And I know there's always a solution, but I needed to go take a nap before I could figure out my exit strategy. When I woke up, mama had already made a plan of all the things I would need to learn, what order I needed to learn them in, and how long she thought each would take to learn. She said there were some things I was already doing just because I liked it, but now I would have to learn how to do those things at special times, some things I would have to learn how to do better, and some would be new things I would have to learn. She said some things might be confusing and some things might be annoying because they would be things I liked to do, and now I wouldn't be able to do them.
Oh. My. Dawg!!! What the heck had I done? This was never going to be a "go with the flow" helping hobby thing. It sounded like it was going to be a Navy Seal "hell week" thing, except it wouldn't be a week. I had to find a way to get myself out of this mess.
So, I went to my favorite thinking spot. The window where I just watch the neighbors go by and where my head gets good ideas, too. Like when I figured out how to get mama to stop breaking my treats in half because she thought I didn't notice what she was doing but I got an idea at the window to put a stop to that.
And now I had to put a stop to Operation Security Dog...
To be continued... Toffy xoxo #toffysdogblog