Idle Chatter and the Library Dog

My son Ty Ty loves dogs, which is a pity since we don't have one. We had two when he was born, and his grandmother has one, so he has grown up around dogs. However, our lifestyle at the moment does not include a dog, and so he has to content himself with my mom's dog and random dogs he meets in the world. We were hanging out one night a few days ago and he began a conversation.

T: Mommy?
M: Yes, baby?
T: I want one hundred dogs.
M: That is just not possible. Having a hundred dogs is not something one person could do.
T: No, mommy, I don't want one hundred dogs, I want to meet one hundred dogs.
M: Well, that is certainly possible.

In fact, he may already have met one hundred dogs; he walked in the CAAWS Krewe of Mutts parade with his grandmother and there had to be at least one hundred dogs there that day. But who counts such things?  So we began to talk about the idea of meeting one hundred dogs and since we are homeschoolers, I started trying to think of how I could turn this desire of his into some kind of real learning. Several minutes later we had come up with the idea of documenting all of the dogs he meets in a Dog Journal. Each page would have a picture of him with the dog, the dog's name, where he met the dog, and the date. He could decorate each page and practice his printing and maybe we could even keep a chart on a poster in the classroom tallying up the different kinds of breeds, colors, sizes...my homeschooling mom brain ran through all the major subjects. How many could I include in this one project? The possibilities were legion, and I fell asleep thinking about them. I didn't remember anything when I woke up.

Monday is our busy day; we have to drop off my husband at work (we have only the one car) then high-tail it to St. Gabriel for soccer, then we spend an hour at the Ascension Parish library studying before yoga class in Geismar. On Mondays it's all I can do just making sure we arrive everywhere on time with enough snacks to get us through the day without spending money anywhere. Dogs were not on my mind. But upon leaving the library we came upon a lab mix tied to a pillar looking longingly through the doors behind us.

T: Mommy! My first dog!
M: Hunh?

He reminded me of our project and we officially began it. He moved tentatively toward the dog; he knows the rules of strange dogs:
1. Do not approach a strange dog.
2. Ask the owner if you can pet it.
3. If the owner says yes, approach the dog slowly and pet it gently.

We ignored all of these rules.

We were on a schedule and couldn't wait for the owner to come out. I told my son to stand near the dog and I'd snap a picture. But the dog evidently did not know the rules and approached my son without any regard to the possibility that this strange boy might bite. My son totally trusted the dog and before you could say "stitches and a rabies shot" he had both hands on the dog's head, one under the chin and one scratching the ears. The dog was enjoying it but still distracted waiting for it's owner. Maybe he saw his human through the glass doors because he suddenly lunged toward them; or maybe he suddenly remembered the rules, I don't know. My son looked at him wistfully and let him go.

But we had to go! I guided the boy to the car congratulating him on having found his first dog. Not knowing the dog's name, we have dubbed him The Library Dog. He is Dog #1. Not a perfect start maybe, but this is one of those journey-of-a-thousand-miles kind of things and we have at least taken our first step.