Exhausted and Elated

Since we brought Jackson home 3 weeks ago, my schedule has been turned upside down and I find myself just trying to keep up with him in addition to life itself. He has energy spurts at least 3 times a day that normally last an hour or so. Being challenged with MS for the past 23 years, I can’t remember the last time I had an energy spurt let alone one that lasted an hour or more. I am exhausted and elated all at the same time. Per all of the articles I’ve been reading about German Shepherds, they are highly intelligent dogs and eager to be trained so I’m hoping by putting in all of this extra time and effort now, he can be my service dog later. Today, when he wanted to go outside, he grabbed one of my shoes with his mouth and brought it over to me. I couldn’t figure out if he wanted to eat it or wanted to give it to me so I would take him outside but I’m going to assume it was the later.

Last Saturday, I was outside with Jackson for 1-2 hours and by the time he was worn out, my legs were spent. I barely made it into the garage on my own 2 feet; I was holding onto anything I could find to stay upright. When I got to the stairs leading into the house, I fell to my hands and knees and crawled up the 2 steps into the kitchen. Once Jackson and I were inside, I laid flat on my back on the kitchen floor. I didn’t have anything left in me to get up and close the door so I swung my leg sideways to shut it. While I was sprawled out on the wood floor, I started laughing out loud at myself and the situation. As I was staring at the ceiling thinking, “I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to”, Jackson decided he wasn’t done with me yet. He climbed onto my belly, looked me in the eyes and licked my face. That made me laugh even harder and I said out loud, “It’s a good thing you’re so cute because this is nuts.” Then, he curled up on me and fell asleep. I wish someone had been there to capture this moment on film because it was priceless; however, if someone had been there, this never would have happened because I would not have been the person trying to wear him out.

I love this little puppy who looks so sweet and innocent in pictures. Although I may trip over him and he may tire me out, I’m 100% devoted to training him to be an integral part of our family.