I have a dog that wants squirrels and deers. She usually pardons cats and cows, Thank God. but she has it in for deers and squirrels. she is 8 1/2 yrs.old and showing no signs of slowing down. She drives me crazy sometimes!. I have the wonderful freedom of having my other dogs off leash in the neighbhorhood, but NOT my Miss Madeline. Oh No, she would be up and down these streets looking for that elusive rodent. What is it in her that I don’t accept? Because- I truly believe that what we don’t accept in another is something that we don’t accept in ourselves. It is – her obsessiveness, her inability to let it go……and I have the same exact issue. This mind catches on a topic, and it can spiral and twist and run rampant with endless chatter. It will not let go of a thought, a fear, an idea. and it drives me crazy. Her obsessiveness is a mirror to my own OCD ( Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). No, I have never been diagnosed. but how many times do I have to check the closet to make sure no one got in my home and is hiding!
My dogs reflect my angst back to me. yet there is one big difference- with Madeline- she FINDS FREEDOM in her Obsession. She loves the chase. she goes with it. she allows it, she explores it. and I- I judge it, push it down, hide it, and pretend it does not exist.
Another lesson from the dog.