The Weight of the First Week
The first seven days with Barnaby were an absolute shock to my system. I had gone from a life of zero responsibility to having a 70-pound shadow following me everywhere. The 6:00 AM wake-up calls were brutal. I’d be standing on the sidewalk in my pajamas, shivering in the morning air, wondering what on earth I had done. There were moments of genuine panic where I thought about calling the shelter and telling them I made a mistake. I felt like I was failing him because I was still so anxious, and I thought he deserved someone better.
But Barnaby had other plans. He thought I was the perfect owner! I noticed that he would pick up on my moods. If I sat on the couch and started to spiral into a dark thought, he would trot over and drop a soggy toy right on my lap. If I started breathing too fast, he would lean his entire body weight against my shins. It’s a technique trainers call "deep pressure therapy," but to me, it just felt like my best friend telling me to stay grounded. He was forcing me to stay in the present moment because you can’t worry about the future when a Golden Retriever is demanding a belly rub.
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