Lesson #35: Don't Hold Grudges

Oscar likes to go for walks around our neighbourhood and one of our favourite destinations is the library. Since dogs are not currently allowed to enter libraries Oscar must wait outside while his owners pick up their requested items. So just for a few minutes Oscar gets tied to a tree where he must wait patiently until his owners return to release him.

Now it's quite obvious that Oscar does not enjoy this particular sequence of the walk as he does not appreciate being tethered to a stationary object nor does he like being separated from his people. He has actually begun to recognize when we're drawing close to our destination and tries to delay our progress by not pulling quite as enthusiastically on his lead as normal.


But today's lesson applies to his behaviour when his walking companion reemerges from the library doors to reclaim their briefly-abandoned pet. One might expect the Professor to display a certain amount of disappointment or resentment or at least be somewhat indifferent to his owner's return.

Not this professor, however. The moment he glimpses his owner returning around the corner to retrieve him he starts jumping for joy like what he's currently witnessing is one of the best things to happen to him in weeks. He doesn't remind you of the feelings he had just a few minutes before, even for the briefest moment. It's as if the relationship is starting from a clean slate: wouldn't it be nice if all relationships focused exclusively on the good parts rather than dwelling on those that are less than ideal?