How Chasing My Dog Around the House Inspires Me

We all have those days in which we would like to press the REWIND button, or even FAST-FORWARD (“eff-eff” as my daughter says) to get through it. You know the ones that are less than exciting, or even downright miserable? I was having one of those days – walking around the house, attempting to complete projects, unenthusiastically letting my dog in and out 14 times an hour – really trying to navigate and survive the moment. But dogs are wise creatures; much smarter than the average human, and mine is especially tuned in to my emotions and mood, as many Shepherds are.

Friedrich nudged me with his big head while I was standing at the kitchen island, his sign for letting me know he wants attention, or in this case, his attempt to lighten my darkened mood. I looked down at him. “What?” I asked. He tipped his head inquisitively. “Where’s your bone?” I asked him.

Friedrich looked down at the floor and back up at me. No bone. This amused me. “Where’s your bone?” I asked him several more times. Each time he looked from me, to the floor and back up at me, as if to say, “I don’t know! Why do you keep asking me? Where is it?”

Since it was not in its usual place (the floor in the kitchen pantry) and he couldn’t smell it, I decided to show him where it was. He followed me upstairs to my bathroom closet where I had stashed it on the floor the night before. He looked at the bone and back at me as if to say, “Why is it in here? It’s never in here!”

“I didn’t feel like walking back downstairs last night, and this is a closet, just like the kitchen,” I told him. Fred blinked, and waited patiently.

“Get your bone!” I told him. He obeyed. Then, he happily wagged himself (because when he is excited his whole body wags, not just his tail) down the stairs, bone in his mouth, looking over his shoulder to make sure I was following him. Happy that one of us was having a good day, I started to go back into the kitchen. Fred stopped, looked up at me and with a little jump, put his paws out in front of him, butt in the air, and wagged his tail – the universal dog sign for “let’s play!”

I didn’t want to play. But, I cannot resist my 95 lb. Belgian Shepherd with ears that never go down. So, I acted like I was going to jump toward him and grab the bone. His response: to run around the house so I would chase him. Which, of course I did.

We played our little game of hide-and-seek chase between the kitchen, dining room and hallway where he runs in one direction and I run in the other, and then we switch directions when we see each other. It’s really fun, and makes me smile just writing about it, even though I’m still in a bad mood. Mostly. After about 10 minutes, we were both panting (note to self: do more cardio) and I was laughing. Friedrich plopped down on the rug and dropped his bone, as if to tell me, “Game over. My work here is done.” He tilted his head at me, looking rather happy that he succeeded in getting me to play with him, when I didn’t want to; when I needed it most.

The next time you are having a less than wonderful day, try giving your dog a rawhide bone and chasing him around the house. If you don’t have a dog, I highly recommend getting one for this purpose. The bigger the dog, the bigger the fun, because when you chase him around the house, he knocks into dining room chairs and scatters rugs across the tile, slipping and sliding around corners as he goes. It’s great entertainment, and you will instantly feel better, or possibly even be inspired.

What Friedrich taught me today is simple: instead of hitting REWIND or FAST-FORWARD, the PLAY button was really all I needed.