Empty Nests and Puppy Guilt

Zeus looking well adjusted in his new home

My youngest daughter packed up her bags and headed back to school yesterday with one of our dogs in tow. She was moving into a pet friendly studio apartment and "needed" her puppy to keep her company. The truth was Zeus had always been Chelsey's dog from the day he moved in with us. He had slept in her room nearly every night since she was in fourth grade and only grudgingly moved into our room when she left for college. So when the idea first came up, it wasn't really a tough decision. Zeus would be happiest where ever Chelsey was. The only concern was our youngest dog. He didn't know what it was like to be an "only" dog. He had always lived with Zeus.

So yesterday, when I arrived home after being away for most of the day, I decided that it just didn't feel right leaving again to go to the gym. It was Hines' first day by himself, and I felt like I needed to spend some time with him. So instead of my evening work-out, I tossed toys for him to chase, brushed his hair and played tug-of war. Despite my best efforts though, he knew something wasn't right. When it came time to retire, instead of following me up the stairs to my room as he would normally do, he stopped on the top landing and laid watch. Finally around midnight and the onset of a fierce thunderstorm, he left his post and hopped up to sleep at my feet.

Tonight when I returned home, I felt that same concern from the night before.  Hines had been alone for a long period of time. I really wanted to go the gym for my regular work-out, but I had also made dinner plans with friends. If I did both, Hines would be alone for well over twelve hours. Not only was he used to Zeus being around, but he had gotten used to Chelsey and her friends being around again. He had spent very little time alone in the last six weeks. My "Puppy Guilt" and my "Work-out Guilt" were at war.  I wasn't sure what I should do, and then I had a flash.

I grabbed Hines leash. I would take him for a walk. We could spend the time together, and I could still get a little exercise in. We turned right out of my house and headed to the back paths at a pretty decent clip. He was pretty excited to actually be leaving with me this time, and he raced along ahead of me clearly happy to be included in my outing. I was smiling to myself pleased that I had found a way to appease my guilt.

Hines sleeping while I write

Things didn't go quite as smoothly I envisioned. There were multiple diversions along the way as Hines either stopped to sniff some fascinating scent or  switched directions to chase a squirrel, but despite his meanderings, I still managed to work up a film of perspiration on our outing. When we returned from the walk, I realized I still  had plenty of time to fit in some exercises.  I grabbed a chew bone from the pantry, tossed it to Hines to keep him busy and then headed in search of our 10 LB dumbbells. I began with multiple sets of Bicep exercises and ended about twenty minutes later with my usual Ab routine.

The "guilts" were gone and I could enjoy my dinner. Whether the walk wore Hines out or the extra time and attention finally started paying off, when I  returned home and headed upstairs for the evening, instead of laying wait on the landing as he had done the night before, he grabbed his ball and followed me into our room again. Perhaps he would handle this better than I expected after all. Perhaps I would too.