… Or at least that’s what you would think from this photo of my office. New paint will soon grace my walls, but in the meantime I had to clear the shelves of any books.
I must admit I am slightly disturbed by this and no, Gus isn’t getting one from me any time soon.
I find this all very intriguing and helpful, particularly as I think more about leadership in my own congregation as well as all those in our church.
I’ve begun to notice that my dog’s behavior is directly proportional to the time I spend with him.
In late August, I felt like Gus had really begun to understand what it is to be a well-behaved dog. I was able to leave the bathroom door open and he wouldn’t go digging through the trash or unroll the toilet paper in the pursuit of paper products. I could leave him out when I quickly ran to the store, confident I would return to find everything just as I left it. Most importantly, he was calm and didn’t really go off in search of a book to rip the cover off of or something else he could sink his teeth into.
But by mid-September and early -October, Gus seemed to have relapsed back into a puppy. Now, he’s only about 16 months old and it really probably takes until a dog is two years old to settle into adult behaviors, but it seems like Gus decided he didn’t want to be an adult and was going to find everything he could to rebel against it. He’s back to finding hidden treasures in the bathroom trash and chewing on things he shouldn’t. He goes off to find whatever he can that will not only be interesting to his keen sense of smell but will provide some sense of entertainment. The only thing he hasn’t regressed back to is tearing the covers off of books (thank goodness).
I just couldn’t figure it out, that is until a friend asked me if October had been a busier month for me. That’s when it began to dawn on me – Gus misses me and is trying to get my attention. September and October have been crazy busy months and poor Gus probably thinks I’ve abandoned him. He doesn’t know what my schedule’s been like – that I have to be at several installations, funerals, and bible studies. He doesn’t know that I’ve had more meetings than normal and most are at least a 45 minute drive from home. He doesn’t know life in the parish has picked up a bit and will eventually slow down, but for now I’ve a bit too much on my plate.
All he knows is that I’m not here. With him. And he’s alone.
So now I’m trying to find ways of carving out time with him – time to let him know I still love him, that he’s a good dog.
We’ll see if more time spent improves Gus’ behavior.
Gus decided he much preferred it this way and did some rearranging while I was in the shower this morning…
