Sittin' Pretty

Last night Chanel had a doggie play date. And a few weeks ago she met a never socialized dog. The dog last night was a black lab. The dog a few weeks ago was an Irish Wolfhound - Lab mix. Lately I've been thinking a lot about what shapes us as humans, and though it may sound silly, I think the same is true for dogs.

While Chanel has tons of flaws (and to be honest, I probably have three times as many) she is extremely good with other dogs and with people. I take no credit for that at all. We speak two different languages, she only learned how to behave as my dog for me, she learned how to behave around other dogs from, well, other dogs.

My Uncle John told me once, the goal is to have her meet 100 other dogs and 100 other humans in her first year, maybe year and a half. I wonder if we as humans, need to start thinking like this as well. If my dog needs to meet 100 different people and 100 different dogs per year, maybe I should reconsider what I need to do in order to grow as a person.

Lately I've been busy doing self-reflecting. While I am coming to value this in my daily life, I can't help but wonder, do I need to be more like Chanel? Should I be more willing to get out and meet other people? Maybe I should have to meet 200 different people and try 100 new things. I don't know if there is a quota, but I think the point my Uncle John was trying to make was, I alone was not enough to socialize her.

I hope you join me for the next year or 100 new experiences (whichever comes first) as I try and find a little self-growth by doing and not thinking.