Friends

A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself. -- Jim Morrison

Recently I've been thinking a lot about friendships of all sorts. For those of you who know me you know that I don't make new friends easily. When I started this blog I named it "Kozmo and Friends" without giving much thought to the meaning of a friend.

Until now the "friends" mentioned in the blog have been the other dogs Kozmo has had the opportunity to play with. The more I think about Kozmo and friends I am realizing that simply by having this cute shelter dog enter my life both Kozmo and I have made some very special friends. Usually I try very hard not to humanize dogs. I realize many people may think dogs can't have friendships in the same way humans can. I agree, Kozmo can't call his friends to ask about their day or make plans. But he does recognize certain humans and dogs. Kozmo doesn't react the same way to everyone he meets.

Kozmo has always been friendly and curious but he was leery of letting new people pet him. When I first took him to day care he lacked proper dog socialization and tried to greet all new dogs by biting their necks. I was determined to have a well socialized dog so that he would eventually be welcome to go with me to visit family and  friends, go to the lake, hiking, and any other dog friendly ventures. When I set out to socialize Kozmo I had no idea we would both make real friends.

Kozmo recognizes his dog friends when we arrive at the park and agility class. Perhaps dogs recognizing each other and wanting to engage in play doesn't qualify as a friend. What is a friend? I think we have all sorts of different friends. It seems to me that we are all blessed with a variety of friends. We have many types of friends; old friends, new friends, work friends, friends from high school, college friends, and although they are all different and the relationships maybe different, I think they are all friends.

Kozmo is friends with several dogs, but the friendship that I find the most fascinating is the one between a human named Matt and Kozmo. We met Matt when we first started attending dog socialization. Matt is one of the nicest, most polite and genuine teens I have ever had the pleasure to meet. He truly has a gift with animals. Matt was the first person other than me who could get Kozmo to play fetch. Kozmo was slow to trust but curious enough he wanted to get to know Matt. It took a lot of patience from Matt but eventually Kozmo was playing and after a few weeks at dog socialization Kozmo allowed Matt to pet him and rub his belly. (Scroll to the bottom of this old post to see one of the special moments where Kozmo finally allowed Matt to pet him.  http://kozmoandfriends.blogspot.com/2013/02/dog-socialization.html)

I love to watch Kozmo and Matt together. I believe they are friends.

Matt & Kozmo at the dog park

Matt has Kozmo's full attention

Matt and Kozmo share a connection. This week in agility class Kozmo decided once again to be the class clown, grab a cone and run around the room. I tried to get him to drop the cone and come to me. Both trainers tried to get his attention. Ultimately the only person Kozmo would listen to was Matt. As frustrated as I was with Kozmo's antics I truly enjoyed watching Kozmo respond to his friend, Matt.

At the end of class we were all lucky enough to watch Matt with another friend, Sunny. Matt has learned a lot watching each agility class. His family's dog, Kaylee Jane, is very attached to Matt's mom and would never let another person lead her through a course. To give Matt a chance to try agility Sunny's human agreed to let Matt and Sunny try the course. When you watch this video keep in mind Sunny is not Matt's dog and this is Matt's very first time on an agility course.

(For those of you who are reading the blog via email subscription you will need to click to the website to view the video clip. It's worth it. )

Matt and Sunny did a second run so that they could try the teeter. Below are a few phone photos. As I left agility class I was smiling thinking about friends. Sunny's human and Matt's mom and I have become friends. We started off having our dogs and the weekly socialization classes in common. We quickly discovered that we all have rescue dogs, use the same trainer, enjoy agility, and have a passion for photography. It didn't take long for friendships to form. I never thought my first dog would help me make friends or that my dog would make friends of his own but I've seen it happen and know I'm very lucky to have so many wonderful friends and Kozmo. He has changed my life and we are looking forward to many adventures with our new friends.

Sunny focuses on Matt at the start line

And they are off....

Matt & Sunny have a perfect finish