You’re at the beach around here, and it’s postcard perfect. They don’t call the North Shore a “shore” for nothing. A guy’s playing with his dog in the surf, and they’re having a ball.
Dog’s emotions have a “boomerang effect.” They circle back to you. When your dog’s happy you are, too. You muse about this, remembering it’s not always that simple…
A few years ago you took your young dog to this same North Shore beach to show her some fun and have it boomerang back to you.
She hesitated to enter the water, so you gently carried her in, saying “you’re gonna love this.” She was a retriever, a breed born to enjoy swimming.
Standing in clear Lake Michigan up to your chest, you held her, letting her feel the buoyant waves, a taste of fun to come. Then you eased her in so she could enjoy her first dog-paddle.
She dropped like a rock. What about the inborn canine instinct for swimming? Don’t count on it! You quickly dove under to grab her. She came up coughing, sputtering, climbing onto you in a no-fun mood. Back at the beach she shook herself and looked up, saying with big eyes: “Why’d you do that to me?”
All you’d wanted was to show her a good time. She went on to live a long, contented life on dry land, never interested in going back into the water. You were fine with that.
Seems the connection we have with dogs goes beyond just feeling their fun. All their moods can boomerang back at you.