I haven’t updated my blog for quite some time. Life got in the way, I suppose. I guess that’s better than having things the other way around. My life has been a little more in ‘flux’ than normal – not much has remained unchanged since my last post.
Jim and I are now living in a big old house near the city with two girl friends and… a dog. They say you don’t choose a pet – they choose you. Well, young Miss Daisy seems to have chosen us.
Daisy bones
Jim and I were planning to adopt a dog from an animal shelter once we’d settled in. But before we’d moved into our latest digs, for some reason unknown to both of us, Jim felt compelled to look at available pets on Gumtree (Australia’s version of craigslist), and happened upon a photo of the exact dog I’d had a daydream vision of just the day before. This and a couple of other coincidences led us to believe that she was the dog for us, even if she did arrive a little earlier than expected.
Daisy is a Bull Terrier / Greyhound X, around five years of age, and was abandoned by her previous owner - if you can even call him that. His neighbours, a lovely couple with whom we still have contact, fed and walked her most of the time. The neighbours were the ones responsible for finding Daisy a new home after her owner moved to another city, leaving her in his backyard.
Before the neighbours’ intervention, Daisy was pretty much left to her own devices in the sand-pit of a backyard, sometimes going without food for four days at a time. When I met her my first impression of her was “Whoa, here’s a wild, nervous dog who’s unsure of her place in the world”. Now, I’m pleased to say, she is relaxed, happy and healthy.
Daisy with a bone. Is it someone you know?
Of course Daisy has been affected by her previous experiences. Having never been socialised, she is wary of strangers and doesn’t tolerate dogs one bit. As soon as she sees another dog she’ll display aggressive behaviours, an understandable coping mechanism.
We certainly have our work cut out for us. Thankfully, we now have the assistance of a dog trainer, Garth. In fact, he’s become my mentor and is teaching me to become a trainer myself. I write this article on the eve of the day when I will teach my first dog training class. I’m both excited and terrified at the thought of it. That’s one hour of my life that I want to run super smoothly.
While Garth needs to be elsewhere tomorrow morning and that’s the primary reason for me taking this class, the idea is that I’ll eventually be ready to take it on as my own. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll take Daisy to her second training class. This time, we hope to be able to bring her into the vicinity of other doggie students, muzzled and on-lead, of course.
On the job front, I’m no longer working in retail. I’m about to go into my third week in my new job in Donor Relations for a not-for-profit organisation here in Perth. It must be one of the best working environments I’ve worked in so far. One of the perks is a weekly meditation/relaxation class provided for those interested by our employer. I’m still doing some freelance work for my friend’s fashion label and have recently picked up a new client, an artist.
Jim started out working in IT but soon realised it still wasn’t the right path for him, so is now employed as an Employment Consultant, helping people with disabilities obtain and maintain employment. While it’s hard work, it makes him very happy.
It feels like I’ve already been back in Perth for over a year, when it’s only just been over five months. Unfortunately this is long enough to have to stop using the old “But I’ve been away for years, how could I have known that?” excuse. I do have the sensation of having left and come back, so it’s not all just one uninterrupted jumble, and I’m getting towards that fuzzy settled feeling one gets when they’re content with where they’re at in life.
Now that I know my weekly roster and have somewhat of a routine, things are starting to fall into place. Jim and I don’t regret our decision to leave France for one moment – although we do of course miss our friends and family over there.
We have made time to think and dream about what’s coming next – which will find us here in Perth for the foreseeable future.
Expect to see more information on dog training, Daisy, gardening, our ever-evolving careers, sustainable living (we did a course!), boxing, and our day-to-day happenings here in the next little while.
As us Aussies are wont to say, “Catchya soon!”.
One small happy family
