OkcPets Magazine September 2020

36 OKC Pets • September/October 2020 S ome people knit to relax. Others enjoy a glass of wine. More ambitious types go for a run or maybe lift weights. Me? I scoop poop. Perhaps not the most glamorous of destressing techniques, but when you have a houseful of dogs sharing a backyard, it’s a necessary and oddly satisfying task. I do some of my best thinking when I’m out there scooping up the dogs’ left-behinds. And honestly, 2020 has given me plenty of incentive to get out there and “destress.” But even still, on some days, my brain just refuses to calm. My thoughts bounce around like that little white ball in an Olympic ping pong match. There are things like the always- present threat of the pandemic; concern for the survival of small businesses in its life- altering wake; hornets that apparently want to murder us; and depression associated with not being able to do simple life things like go to a movie or get together with family and friends. The list of what-ifs, can’t-do’s, and oh- no’s is long and overwhelming this year. On particularly bouncy brain days, even the simple, methodical task of collecting my dogs’ poop can’t ground me. But then Ladybug steps in. You don’t necessarily hear her coming; it’s more of a force—something you feel before you even realize what is happening. I have named the event “joy running,” and it’s a beautiful sight each and every time it happens. Ladybug, a lithe, black and white spotted Dalmatian, erupts from the house, giving the dog door a healthy smack as she blasts through. Then she proceeds to do laps around the yard in what can only be described as running for the sheer thrill of being able to. She’s not chasing anything; she’s not playing tag with another dog. She is quite literally racing about the yard in silly, exaggerated, pointless loops, her mouth open in a wide, tongue-lolling grin, her eyes shining with enthusiasm. You can step outside to watch the show; it does not deter her. Other dogs can join in— or not. It might be a beautiful, sunny day or dreary and overcast. It just doesn’t matter. This is Ladybug’s moment. Nothing gets in her way; nothing dampens her spirit. If the mood to go on a joy run hits, Ladybug is out of the starting gate like the most eager of racehorses. Now, the idea of a happy pet dog getting a case of the zoomies may not seem like much of a story and certainly not a life lesson. But Ladybug is not an ordinary pet dog. She has traveled a long path to find her joy. Ladybug came to our home about 18 months ago after being used as a breeding dog in what we now know was one of the worst puppy mills in the country. Her life likely consisted of being housed 24/7 in a small pen with minimal care and certainly no creature comforts or positive human attention. Her job was to have puppies. Litter after litter after litter. Add to this story the fact that Ladybug is completely deaf—an affliction with a high incidence in the Dalmatian breed and not a genetic trait that should be bred, but to a commercial breeder it was of little consequence. Maybe that was Ladybug’s one escape in her small, hopeless existence. She couldn’t hear the constant, plaintive barking of the hundreds of other dogs and puppies that shared her plight. STORY AND PHOTOS BY: Nancy Gallimore LESSONS ON COPING TAUGHT BY MY FOSTER DOG When first adopted, Ladybug was unsure of her surroundings out the back door.