We started and continue for a while still with Poodle. Give him his due.
What a big mistake
He’s deaf and blind, by God
And now he’s ours.
Human nature is rooted in pessimism bias which refers to the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of negative events while underestimating the likelihood of positive events. Hence the beginning of this haiku, deeply clouded in the fear and apprehension of the early days and months with Poodle.
On the contrary, it is a fundamental aspect of human nature – and a cognitive adaption – to look back on the past positively. This is called rosy retrospection.
One looks back in time and for the most part remembers only the good.
Contrary to popular tendencies this is not often the case with Poodle. We look back, remember and reminisce often about how very much work and how very difficult he was. No rosy retrospection involved in the sheer physical and emotional investment that was Poodle.
Strangely though we remember him, the essence that is Poodle, with love and a smile – perhaps that is relief we got through it.
We laugh when Gordon daily prepares a little lunch for current dog, Harper, from his plate. Shared lunch was never a thing before Poodle. But when Poodle came along Gordon started sharing his lunch with the 3 dogs. That was a happy, fun little moment in the day. As fragile as he was, he did love his food. Human food that is. When he arrived – he was so bony and wouldn’t eat for anything. Days went by. Those horrible first days when you feel you’ve made the worst decision of your life. In desperation finally I cut up a little piece of hot dog. It disappeared in a second, and another and another. We realized after a while that Poodle had lived his whole life with an elderly owner who probably just shared their food with him. Poodle didn’t wouldn’t couldn’t eat dog food – probably never had – and at this late stage of his life we decided to just run with it.
This is the thing I have realized over the years with bringing a new dog or cat family member into the home. The first week or so you second guess yourself constantly. Convince yourself it was a horrible mistake. But over the weeks you get to know the little beast, they get used to your family dynamic and before you know it you can’t image life without them.
Nothing to do with rosy retrospection. Just deep rooted gratitude for a connection that is mutually enriching and rewarding.
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