I've always loved dogs and suppose you could say I was born with the gene if there is such a thing. My dad never met a dog he didn't like and I don't remember a dog that didn't love my dad. I mean no offense in admitting this, but if I visit your home, chances are I will be more taken by your dog than your children or grandchildren. A previous co-worker of mine who enjoyed astrology, handed me a paper one day that she had printed about the Chinese zodiac. It was no big surprise to find that I'm not a rooster, rabbit, or any of those other animals. I am the dog, not the bounty hunter guy, but a loyal, honest, trustworthy, yet temperamental, narrow-minded, and stubborn dog according to this zodiac. Whether you put any confidence in that kind of thing or not, I don't mind being the dog at all. In fact, the life of leisure our hound leads proves that often "being treated like a dog" is pretty darn sweet!
It's very ironic that although I had no previous interest in becoming a runner, the only dogs I've shared my adult life with, were born to run. We raised two dalmatian puppies, Duchess and Lady, who were sisters out of the same litter. If you've ever had a Dal, you should very well know they aren't "porch dogs" but tireless runners. Historically, these dogs worked as "coach" dogs running along with the stagecoaches, clearing the paths for and protecting the horses. Young dalmatians will run themselves to detriment if you're not careful. They are not sprinters, but marathoners or ultras. I was just as easily fascinated with our greyhounds, Luke and Sugar, also siblings out of the same litter. An ancient breed of sight hound with a fascinating history, greyhounds are natural born sprinters who can take off in explosive bursts. There is no "building up" to top speed for a greyhound, it's literally BOOM and they're gone! If you've ever had a retired-racing greyhound in your family, you've seen the happy face of a hound running at full speed and it's obvious they are doing what they love.
If we were only as smart as our dogs, the world would be in order. They plainly and simply do what they were born to do and couldn't be happier. Now, you're going to balk at this statement, but I really think we humans were born to run too. Maybe some of us were meant to be sprinters like the greyhound, marathoners like the dalmatian or possibly some of us are like a pug and were made just to take a spin around the block, buggy-eyed, with our tongue hanging out. Where ever I fit in with my running, I'm going to take a lesson from my dogs and enjoy it. God did not put dogs here to be chained to a tree and I don't believe He put us here to be chained to a desk in front of a computer, so by all means, act like a dog and get out and run!
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