On Thursday I’ll be eight months old. Pop says I’m gettin’ smarter every day. I let everybody know early on that I’ve got some brains by fetchin’ the paper from the driveway every morning.
Pop said he wanted to make sure I became a good citizen, though, so me and the missus have been goin’ to classes to make sure I know how to act around other folks. He said it’s real important to act right because that’s how people judge you. Manners are important whether you’re canine or human. Nothin’ good happens to you ’cause of how you feel, but folks do make decisions about you ’cause of how you act.
The other day Pop was watchin’ a football game where the refs made a lousy call on the very last play. Everybody in the country weighed in the next day and almost unanimously agreed that there was an interception instead of a touchdown. But, that call made the difference in which team won.
It wasn’t fair. Even at eight months old I’ve figured out that life’s not fair but, how you react when bad stuff happens determines your success. The coach of the team that lost made it clear that they’re moving on regardless of how they feel about the bad call. They’re gonna act like pros and take care of business next week.
I kinda understand that Pop and the missus are makin’ sure that I can follow commands because they want folks to think that I’m a good dog and folks will make that decision based on how I act.
So, How I act makes all the difference as far as how folks choose to treat me.
See, I told ya . . . I’m a smart dog!