Hamish
By A.M. Moscoso

I think my dog, Hamish Macbeth is pretty darn amazing.

He can open and close doors, he can work the deadbolt, he knows the names for his toys, ” ball, treat toy, toy, frisbee”- so he’ll bring you the one you ask for.

He does great off leash work and he is that perfect mix of sweet and willful.

I think if he could, he’d walk around whistling or singing.

He has that kind of personality.

Hamish-
Somebody asked for a frisbee?

Recently, we learned to use the slide at our neighborhood playfield to launch his tennis balls from- he thinks it’s great. I have to wait for him to roll them down and I get to fetch them.

It took me awhile to get him used to going up there and not launching himself off after a minute or two. He decided it was a cool place to be because if he didn’t feel like coming down there was no way for me to make him.

When he learned he could send things rolling down the slide,  it was a good day to be Hamish Macbeth.

Hamish:
A.M.Moscoso

Recently Hamish turned three years old and I’m not sure what happened but all of the sudden I started to feel like I had shorted Hamish.

I don’t show Hamish- he comes from a line of show dogs and it shows in ways- he’s bright, focused and a bit of a comedian- he also reads people with his Ninja like radar.

All of the sudden I wanted Hamish to have ribbons and titles. I wanted to stand in a ring with him and have everyone know what a great dog he is.

The thing of it is, I don’t have the time to show him and I like our approach to learning new skills- it’s all for fun and if he doesn’t get it right away I honestly don’t mind.

He always learns in the end and he gets to do it at his own pace.

I told a friend that I was going to buy him a blue collar and leash and retire his pink leash and collar that he’s been wearing for most of his life.

Pink is my favorite color and he’s a chocolate lab with just a tinge of gold to his coat that I can’t seem to capture on camera, so the pink looks really stunning on him.

My friend pointed out that Pink is Hamish’s trademark and why am I giving that up?

Because I can’t help him win ribbons or titles and that’s as close as we’ll ever get to it I said.

” But he’s a great dog Anita.”

I know that.

But is that enough I wondered?

Photo: A.M Moscoso

That evening I was in bed reading a book and Hamish jumped up beside me and laid down next to me.

Hamish put his head on my should and looked at me with the most adoring puppy dog eyes I have ever seen in my life.

Hamish sighed and then he snuggled into my shoulder.

Then he lifted his head up and tried with determination and his version of laughing,  to stick his tongue up my nose.

Photo: A.M. Moscoso