It Came Down To This...

We talked for a long time this weekend. In between the basketball games and the laundry and Ann packing for her trip back to Wisconsin, we weighed our options. My options, really, but they will impact both of us. In my head I created the plus and minus columns and tabulated the results the deeper into the discussion we went.

And it came down to what was best for the new puppy we are soon to get (about a month away). I have always loved animals. No matter where I am, if there's a dog or a cat in the room, they climb up on or next to me. Perhaps I was a house pet in my previous life, but no matter the aura, they are as drawn to me as I am to them.

A dream I've always had (aside from spending my days writing) is to be a dog trainer. I never really knew how to go about it, but took opportunities to help train friends' dogs whenever I could. Since the Dog Whisperer has gained such popularity, the dog training profession seems to be a bit more prestigious. I've looked into earning a certification many times before, but now that I'm back in the city, the options are limitless.

I want to raise our new pup as a therapy dog -- a calm dog who ventures into children's hospitals and nursing homes to lay his head on some soul's lap for comfort and scratches. We chose to get a Labradoodle precisely for this reason -- a non-shedding, hypo-allergenic dog bred for a calm disposition and intelligence.

Staying at my current job allows me to raise the puppy literally at my side since I can take the dog to work, put on his "working dog" vest, and train him to stay calm amid the adolescent chaos of a middle school. Plus, we live 6 blocks from school and if I need to keep him at home, I can race back to the house during lunch or breaks to check on him.

If I left my job, the dog would be less of a companion animal and more of a pet. His therapy training would happen in between my work schedule at an undetermined business and I wouldn't have easy access to home or to work.

So here's the plan: One more year of teaching and while I'm teaching, I'll get my dog training certificate, build a network of job opportunities (outside of classroom teaching) all the while training our dog to do therapy work in and out of the classroom.

One more year. I need to stay focused, work on my boundaries, and give all my attention to my students for just one more year.

Who knows what will come with that decision. Right now, there are a few opportunities that just might open up -- a trainer for an anti-bullying program, working with the "horse whisperer" to teach parents better parenting skills, joining forces with a dynamic woman who is using current brain research to help eliminate the achievement gap in schools, or even REI with its excellent benefits and equally wonderful opportunities to move up into something like training or educational work with local kids. Or even just being a dog trainer...

"Don't just react," my friend told me the other day. "Take your time and everything will unfold as it should."

There's a lesson I can learn.

As for the dog, we travel down to Sisters next week to meet him...yes, it will be a him although we don't know which him it will be. At the end of April, that him will come home and the next weekend we begin our "therapy" training every Saturday morning way out in Woodinville, which a friend from Rhode Island pronounces as W00- Din- Ville versus "Wooden" ville..the way it's pronounced out here. It will be nice to have something else to focus on. It will be nice to have something to ground me, lower my blood pressure, and make me laugh. It will be nice to remember Chester and what an amazing dog he was. It will be nice to take the new dog for visits. It will even be nice to clean up his messes.

It's come down to this...