War of the Wills

I am the co-parent of a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Being the ‘mom’ half of the parenting coalition makes me the boss of this particular beast. This isn’t an easy job.

Chester (lovingly named for the breed he represents), is one hundred pounds of four year old Chesapeake attitude. I have contemplated writing about his antics but I fear they are nothing new to those who already have Chessies in their lives and those who don’t probably wouldn’t believe the stories anyway.

We read up on his breed extensively before my husband made the decision to purchase this particular puppy. We had to drive all the way to Alberta in a blizzard to pick him up from the breeder. He was a huge commitment even before we met him. But he was adorable.

We were confident he wouldn’t live up to his breed’s penchant for stubbornness – we believed the nature of a dog depended largely on the nature of its human family and we’ve always had very nice dogs. Why would this puppy turn out any different?

He seemed extremely bright for his age and appeared to learn his name on the drive back to B.C.. He promptly forgot it for six months once we got home.

Chester makes everything a challenge. It’s been a battle of wills from the beginning. He’s like that kid at school who was always pushing things two steps beyond funny and perpetually found himself in the principal’s office. I think Ches knows when he is pushing his luck, he pushes anyway. He never seems entirely surprised when he finds himself in time out. He has a face that can make you believe he is sorry (for a minute) but really he is just sorry that he got caught… again.

Chester has never been a chewer of things — he is an eater of things. Where other puppies would rip something to smithereens, Chester gobbled them. It has been exhausting trying to stay ahead of him. I’m not certain he has outgrown this tendency or if we’ve just gotten smarter about dog proofing the place – it’s been a while since I’ve made an emergency trip to the vet.

But for all his faults and frustrations Chester is as lovely as any other dog we have shared our lives with – he has emulated his human family with a certain flair we didn’t know we needed but that’s not altogether a bad thing. He is all about living the moment and seizing the day. Who couldn’t use a bit more of that in their lives — especially at this stage of the game.