Pet Distractions

It’s Monday morning and I woke up a little bit later than usual. I get out of my comfortable bed and go to the restroom so that I can get ready for the day. I make my morning coffee and I open the door to let my dog out into the backyard. Once he’s outside, I fill his bowls with food and water. Finally it’s time to start working so I move my laptop to my desk and set my coffee down. As soon as my finger hits a key on the keyboard, my dog starts barking, I look over and through the windows, I can see him sitting down right outside of the door. So, I reluctantly get up and open the door. As soon as the door is open, he comes running in.

My dog is a blue nosed pitbull named Zeus and he is named after the Greek god of thunder. He looks very intimidating to people who don’t know him but that’s where the similarities end. Because those who do know Zeus, know that he is a big baby. And there’s nothing that he loves more in this world than food and attention. He loves being held even though it’s difficult because of his size and he’s very friendly to everybody he meets. He’s usually lazy and prefers napping but whenever he gets bursts of energy, I just let him outside so he can zoom around on the grass or I take him on a walk.

Once Zeus runs back inside, I sit down at my desk chair and get ready to type again while he eats his food and drinks his water. But once he’s done he sits at my feet and starts nudging my leg with his wet nose. After a while of nudging with his nose he starts pawing at my leg. So, I scoot back in my chair to look at him and he sees his opportunity to jump on my lap. I decided to let him lay on my lap even though his legs are hanging off. I simply put my arms on top of him and reach my hands towards the laptop. Hopefully he doesn’t move too much so that I can do my work.

I work for about forty minutes before Zeus jumps off my lap and he heads to the kitchen to drink more water. He comes back from the kitchen and goes to the door. He stands there for a while and hopes that I’ll notice him but when I don’t pay him any attention, he lets out a bark. This time he is at the front door which means that he wants to go on a walk. I figure that if I take him on a walk, he’ll be tired by the time we come back home. And if he’s tired then hopefully he’ll just curl up on his favorite blanket and fall asleep so that I can do my work without him interrupting again.

I grabbed Zeus’ leash and put it on him. Before we left, I remembered to grab a jacket because it’s been chilly outside lately. On the walk, I saw a few other people walking their dogs or just walking with their families. At one point, we also saw a squirrel running through somebody’s yard  and I had to run alongside Zeus for a whole block because he desperately felt the need to chase it. I’m just glad that the squirrel got away and Zeus gave up because I don’t think I would have lasted much longer. After we chased the squirrel, we walked home because I hoped that it would be enough for him to be tired and also because I was already tired from all the running.

Once we got home, I took his leash off and I went to take a shower. When I came out of the shower, I see that Zeus is asleep on his favorite blanket. I grab my laptop and I sit on the couch and work for two hours. Zeus wakes up from his spot on the floor and jumps up on the couch. He decides to lay his big head on the laptop and he just stares at me. I think he looks adorable and I choose to take a break. I turn my laptop off and put it to the side. Now his head is just laying on my lap and I’m petting him between his ears which he really enjoys. He looks so comfortable and he might even fall asleep. He’s too cute to move so I turn on the TV and I promise myself that I’ll only watch one episode of my show.

Once the episode is over, Zeus wakes up again and waits at the door that leads to the backyard. I let him out and I turned my laptop back on. After 30 minutes of being outside, he barks because he wants to be let in. I grab an apple from the kitchen as a snack for myself and I also grab a treat for Zeus. I make him sit on command and then I give him the treat which he devours immediately. Sometimes I wonder if he even chews his food. We go back to the couch and he lays down next to me while I grab my laptop once again and hopefully for the final time today.

I finish my work after fifty more minutes of work and I sigh in satisfaction. I move my laptop and lay down on the couch. Zeus lays on top of my legs and I turn the TV back on. I reach down and pat Zeus’ head. And while I’m petting him I think about how much faster I could have finished if Zeus wasn’t constantly interrupting me. But I know that I wouldn’t trade it for the world because he is always there to keep me company. And Zeus happens to make great company since he’s always in a good mood.