I am a dog person.
Bella, my black lab, waits not-so-patiently for me each day to finish writing words so I’ll toss the ball down the hall a few dozen times and then wrestle and then toss the ball and then give her a high five and a treat. I’ve never taken her to a bark-in-the-park event or a dog park because I know she’d pull on the leash so hard my shoulder would be pulled out of the socket. I like my shoulder where it is.
I like dogs so much I follow multiple dog-based accounts on Twitter. My favorite is @dog_feelings. The pinned tweet on that account is pure poetry.
“i had a long talk. with my fren. about how to spot. a fake ball throw. the optimal strategy. is to follow the ball. with your eyes. instead of your heart.”
My favorite news stories almost always involve dogs — like the story of Bentley, the dog with irrational fears who loves to fly in a helicopter. That one made my day.
I met Lauren and Jaxx at the dog park this morning. Lauren works with Daniel and Elisa and Joe at KOLR-10 and now I have played catch with the whole Daybreak team and I think that’s pretty cool. Jaxx is a 10-month old German Shepherd. As soon as I saw Jaxx, I was reminded of one of my old family dogs, Olivia.
Olivia never really cared for playing ball; she loved Frisbee. And chasing Zacchaeus, the squirrel who lived in our backyard, up the sycamore tree. (I think it was a sycamore tree?) And attacking water out of the hose. Below is one of my favorite pictures with an airborne Olivia — tall socks, Brett shirt, Royals hat.
Olivia once acted in Springfield Little Theater’s Of Mice and Men. I loved being backstage with her and watching the actors and actresses prepare and interact during the performance. She was a star in my eyes, wearing make-up on her muzzle to make her look older.
Unlike Olivia, Jaxx loves playing ball and he has fantastic tracking skills. I couldn’t throw a ball too far for him; I tried on several occasions.
I’d throw a ball for Jaxx and only get one or two throws in to Lauren before he was back and ready for more. It was sheer delight watching him run.
When Lauren’s not on TV and not at the dog park with Jaxx, she’s finding ways to get involved in the Springfield community. She loves the people and philanthropy of Springfield, as well as the lakes. Born and raised here, she returned to work at KOLR-10 after earning a degree in journalism from Mizzou. This June, Lauren will be going “Over the Edge,” raising money for the Child Advocacy Center. I do not think Jaxx will be accompanying her, although I might be wrong.
To celebrate dogs and weekends and spring weather and new friends, another bit of canine wisdom from @dog_feelings.
“gooooob morning. today is a day. to reflect upon. your latest accomplishments. here are mine:
big jump
zooms of the speedy variety
carried stick
borked away. evildoers
big leap (different than a jump)
ate a funny bug
spit out funny bug
loved everything”
