I was reminded just the other day of how important it is to make individual time for doing absolutely nothing with my dogs. Clover was scheduled to go to a class with me so I got Gambit out for a bit to exercise him since he wasn’t going. I let Clover sleep a bit longer. Since she is mostly blind, it takes her a lot of energy to process what is going on in her environment and class is very tiring for her.
Gambit and I played soccer outside and then we hung out for the next 40 minutes. We snuggled on the couch, we sat on the floor, we played with a toy, and he rolled over for belly rubs. We hung out.
I often schedule time to do things with Gambit individually, such as taking him for a private agility lesson, hiking with a friend and her dog, meeting up for a play session with another dog. And all of these are things Gambit and I do together and both enjoy.
But they are not the same as just hanging out together. Rolling around on the floor and just being silly together is highly underrated. And that was my favorite part of the day. We all hang out as a family but I hadn’t realized how rarely it’s just the two of us. It’s just as important to schedule time for us to just be silly together, just Gambit and I, and of course separate time for Clover too. After all, hanging out and just being silly are the best parts of having a dog.
