In the middle of my day at the Del Mar Dog Beach (yes, that is a thing and it is glorious), my friend’s dog Scout (on the left) who is a bit shy, finally got up to explore a few feet from our towels after a couple hours of hiding behind his mom. A few minutes in, another dog approached, but maintained some distance. They looked at each other and then both laid down at the same time. They made eye contact for a while and then accepted each others’ presence, and just lay there enjoying the beach. Pelicans flew overhead, waves lapped, and dogs ran around us, playing with their owners or other dogs. Two shy dogs, putting themselves outside of their comfort zone.
This day reminded me of my long term goals. One of them is to be able to afford a dog of my own, that I can take to the dog beach and watch socialize and put himself out of his comfort zone to make new dog friends and get the full dog beach experience. In order to do that, I need to put myself outside of my comfort zone in treatment and work hard to take back control from my ED.
My future dog depends on it.
putting down the rope 