I got Cosmo when he was 8 weeks old. He just turned 2 last month. Recently, I was telling a client about my plans to get a van and see the country, and he said “It sounds good. Now all you need is a partner to see it with.” I said “I already HAVE a partner–a “4 legger!”
Cosmo truly HAS become my partner in most of my new adventures. I’ve rescued Greyhounds for many years, and almost always, for the past 35 years, I’ve lived with three dogs. This is the first puppy I’ve had in over 35 years, and this is the first time in a long, long time that I’ve only had one dog. It’s turning out to be a good decision.
With three dogs, I always felt I had a pack. But with three greyhounds, it was a major chore to load them into the car to go anywhere, and they were usually pretty skittish, and weren’t too good on a leash. I would sometimes take one with me when I went somewhere, because taking three was just too much work, and taking two meant leaving only one at home. That would just lead to disaster. But with just one dog, who has pretty much gone everywhere with me since he was 2 months old, we’ve formed quite a bond. He’s learned to focus on me, to listen to my commands (mostly) but more than that, we just have an unspoken communication. He knows my routine. He senses before I even put my shoes on when we are about to go to the dog park, or when I’m leaving him in my living space to go up front to work. As I type this, he is lying under the desk, his chin gently resting on my foot. We’re connected on so many levels.
And since our test run in the rented van, he’s changed. I think that four days of being with me 24/7 did us both good. He got a chance to know that I’m not leaving him, and I came to believe that once on the road, he can go with me wherever I go 99% of the time. There will be a few places I have to go where he can’t come and we’ll figure that out, but for the most part, if he can’t come with me, then I won’t really need to go there. We’ve been practicing going places together. He came with me to Home Depot and Lowe’s while on our test run and he did amazingly well. We’ve started going on more walks together, and I got him a longer lead, so he can wander a bit, without reaching “the end of his rope.” He explores a little, and when he gets too far away, instead of tugging the leash, I gently remind him to “stay with me” and he slows down or comes back. He’s learning to stop and sit when we get to a street corner and doesn’t cross until I give him the OK. We’re working on vocabulary. He already learned a lot of commands when we did agility training, so he knows “go through” (a tube) or “go over” (a hurdle). He knows the typical “Sit,” “stay,” “come,” commands. We’re working on “go to bed” or “let’s go up front.” He’s getting pretty smart.
I got him an “emotional support animal” I.D. card. It seemed a bit fraudulent to me at first and I had to promise myself not to abuse it, but it may come in handy if there is a time that I just can’t leave him locked up in the van due to heat or cold. And the behavioral lessons will keep it from being a hardship for anyone else when I do need to bring him with me, because he’ll be pretty well behaved. But the truth of the matter is that he really IS such a huge emotional support for me. I get to be independent like I’ve never been when I was part of a couple, and yet, I never feel alone. It’s the best of all worlds for me at this point in time. There is a reason dogs are called “Man’s best friend.” I can’t wait to travel the country with him.