Fayston, Vermont. Linus can’t catch. He becomes so excited at the thought that food is coming his way that he misses the toss. Every time. Unless he’s lucky. His consistency in missing is remarkable.

On New Year’s Eve, we took a short romp in the woods after I came home from a day of teaching skiing.  Once inside, I rewarded each dog with a small dog cookie.  Linus missed the tossed treat, as usual. The treat bounced off his nose, sailed through the air then slid across the floor coming to rest underneath the refrigerator. Linus excitedly tried to pry it loose as I watched, amused. Then I thought, what if Linus becomes stuck, too?  Dr. Roy would have another story to tell, but I’m sure I won’t like the bill. I reached into the cookie jar and pushed another cookie across the floor for Linus, which he hurriedly tracked down and gobbled up.

Meanwhile, Charlie Brown took Linus’ place at the refrigerator, trying to dislodge the cookie. After a few futile seconds, Charlie stopped. He sat down and looked up at me. “Can you help, please,” said his large thought bubble. I knelt down, removed the stuck treat, and handed it to Charlie.

Lucy stood by me, watching. Lucy is my star fielder. She catches everything tossed her way. Lucy is just as thrilled to catch a snowball as a carrot. Her movements are athletic and acrobatic: She seems to simply enjoy leaping. She radiates pure joy when she shags anything thrown for her.

I thought of how each of my dogs approaches a problem differently and the success of each technique. With the new calendar year beginning, I’ve been reflecting and planning. I also begin a new job this week. A lot of new things will be tossed my way.

Linus has shown me that it is exciting to be goal-oriented, but to be successful, one needs to slow down a bit. And, sometimes one needs a second chance. Charlie pointed out that it’s o.k. to ask for help after giving the task a good try.

As for Lucy, she reminds me to enjoy the leaping.

Special thanks to Lisa Loomis and The Valley Reporter for the lovely profile article about wagmorevt.com in the December 28, 2016, issue. ICYMI, read the article by clicking here: The Valley’s own dog blog