Lesson #34: If You Lobby for Something with Enough Passion It Just Might Come True

Oscar does not exactly hide his emotions. He makes it very easy to see what he wants by his behavior. And usually what he wants more than anything else is to go for a walk.

Oscar knows that mornings are for him: the first order of business each day is to go to the park for a vigorous workout. Pretty much every day starts this way and Oscar has come to expect this although that doesn't mean he won't try to get you out the door as early as possible.

Afternoons, however, are not always as kind to the Professor and most days end with only the one big morning walk. If it were up to Oscar we would go to the park three, four, five times a day but that's not practical for his owners for a number of reasons. But sometimes when I come home from a long day and I see how excited he gets I can't resist making him the happiest dog in the world and we go out for another ball session. When you see an animal (or a person) getting so excited at the prospect of a particular activity it just feels great being able to make that happen.

Conversely, it can break your heart not being able to come through all the time but I think we strike a good balance. Because if we don't go out in the afternoon then it's only a matter of hours until the next morning rolls around.