Problems Walking the Dog

Last night was a pretty unpleasant night for Lisa and I. One of my favorite parts about our nightly routine is walking the dogs. We have a half hour or forty minutes of exercise, we talk and the dogs love it.

Well, our older dog, Buzz, has had serious issues with walking lately. The problem is this: he is terrified of any loud sudden noise like fireworks and gunshots. When we adopted him from Operation Kindness we learned that his mother had been shot.

Over the Fourth of July holiday, we walked him and people were shooting off fireworks and he freaked out. Ever since then, he does not want to walk in the neighborhood. Not at all. It isn’t an issue of who is Alpha in the pack. Buzz is simply terrified.

Okay, well, surely he will get over it after people stop setting off fireworks, I thought. What I did not realize is that some assholes in my neighborhood still set off fireworks on random evenings. So we cannot walk the dog. He won’t go. He will tremble and pull towards the house. He is in stark terror.

Last night I got so angry about it, I was ready to grab my 5th century Francisca throwing axe (yes, this is a real battle axe, a replica of the axes used by Germanic warriors against the Romans in the dark ages) and go kill the little bastard who was setting them off. I really felt cheated of my exercise, time with my wife, and my peaceful life. Seriously, I wanted to kill this guy over it.

A lot of prayer and a long walk (by myself) calmed me down. I’m still angry, even though I know I am powerless. I cannot control the person with the fireworks.

And I still don’t know what to do so that I can walk my dog in peace.

Why should my dog suffer because other people are stupid?

Goddess, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Thank You Brigit, for the gift of sobriety and a loving family. Blessed Be.