No dog, no matter how extraordinary, will ever be Speedy. As I await the time when our new puppy will join us, I have been working to reconcile the fact that, although I am hoping that he will become my next Freestyle partner, this puppy will not take Speedy's place. No dog ever could.
Recently I saw something - and I don't even remember what it was. I don't believe it was dog related. But it said that someone would be a successor, not a replacement.
I like that.
And I think it applies very much here. This puppy will be Speedy's successor. Hopefully, as he grows and develops, he will become Dean's ball buddy. Hopefully he will join Tessa and me on our hikes in the woods. He will be the dog in our household who came right to us from the breeder and never had any other home. He will be one of the Border Collie boys. And, if he is willing, he will become my dance partner.
But in all of that he will bring his own style, his own personality, and his own self.
In thinking of him as Speedy's successor, I can kind of reconcile the place that he will have in our lives, without putting any burden of expectation on him. And that is a good thing.
Four and a half weeks now . . .
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