Celebrating 7 Years

It’s Jig’s birthday today. In honor of that, some random thoughts and a slideshow at the end, celebrating the many sides of this one-of-a-kind girl.

The first time I met Jig in person she was about 4 months old and not the pup I was supposed to be considering. Gail thought I might be more inclined toward one of her sisters. There was just something about the girl with minimal white and muddy copper on her legs that called to me though. I’ve learned not to argue when dogs pick me, so when she climbed out of the x-pen while Dave was washing his bike and made her way into the garage despite the noisy pressure washer, I figured she’d made up her mind that she was home.

Jig’s a different sort. She gets worried about things like running out the slides on the camper, the whirring of a refrigerator fan, the whine of the recliner going back. She hates slick floors and riding in the truck. She’s not fond of people outside her circle and, trust me, that’s a very small circle. I liken her to a stealth bomber, fast, silent, and potentially lethal, particularly at night when you can’t see her. She doesn’t like to share, isn’t fond of other dogs, and only just tolerates the boys so long as they don’t do something that annoys her. And yet she and Rebel Kitten have a strange relationship which often involves Jig putting up with behavior she would never accept from any other creature. She’s serious about everything including Frisbee and playing ball. She loves to swim. Mostly, she loves to work. If we lost track of her in the yard when she was younger, we knew right where to find her: in with the sheep, moving them in and out of the barn just for kicks. She’ll eat her way out of wire and plastic crates in short order, has the most amazing go-go-gadget paws I’ve ever seen, loves to shred beds and make herself a nest out of the stuffing, and has my back 100%.

Over the course of seven years, Jig has taught me much including:

Be careful what you wish for, you may just get it.

A Ferrari can be great fun but only if you have brakes and steering, otherwise it can be a pretty hairy ride.

Trust goes both ways.

A great partnership doesn’t happen overnight.

Rushing things can cause more harm than good.

If it’s wrong, fix it.

Sometimes it all goes to shit. Shake it off. Move on.

Protect what’s yours.

Whatever you do, do it with gusto.

You never know where the journey is going to take you.
Sometimes all you can do is hang on and enjoy the ride.