The Springer Spaniel

Date:   2/12/2006 1:41:16 PM ( 18 y ago)

Again, something quite unexpected happened that resulted in an opportunity to take quite a walk today.

I decided to do a trial run at adopting a dog. Ultimately I decided not to keep the dog as I was apparently allergic to him. However I did take him with me to Boulder after work on Thursday.

He was a 6 yr. old Springer Spaniel and full of energy. I decided to stop by a lake on the way to my house and take him for a walk. We walked and ran beside the lake and he loved seeing the geese there. He had been living in an asphalt-and-cement type urban area for much of his life and looked at the mountains in the distance and the lake, and the grassy terrain as if he was experiencing it for the first time.

We had a lot of fun walking and running by the lake. We also did a lot of walking and running in my yard, which is almost half an acre.

I was not wearing my trusty pedometer so I don't know how far we walked, but I do know we spent the better part of 2 hours walking, and that I felt like I had quite a workout when we were done. He was actually still rarin' to go, but I was done, to be precise.

Shortly after we had been inside the house for awhile, I noticed that my eyes had turned bright red, my ankles were swollen, and my knees were swollen. I assumed this to be an allergy reaction caused by the dog.

I didn't want to take any chances, as I'm not one who will take a pharmaceutical pill for something like an allergy, and the allergic feeling was intense, so I called the man I had adopted the dog from, and he said he would be happy to take him back, and had a few other possibilities for homes for him.

This was a relief.

I brought the dog back later that evening, and he seemed happy as we drove away from the mountains and open plains and back toward the seas of strip malls, asphalt, and concrete that was his familiar home.

It was nice to spend part of the day at a faster-paced activity level walking the dog. I know I'm not allergic to all dogs. In fact I've never been allergic to any dogs; only long haired cats.

The allergy symptoms started gradually fading away once the dog was out of the car and house, and I cleaned out the parts of the car and house where he had been.

It was nice to get a chance to run with a dog, though. Really nice.



 

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