Failure is an Option

Position: UPWARD DOG

Despite what the folks at NASA might tell you, failure is an option. Otherwise, why would experimental aircraft have ejector seats? Or why would prototype rockets have a self-destruct mechanism to initiate a RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly)? This week Carol pushed all the right buttons and proved herself to be an utter failure at fostering.

Yep! Bodhi is officially a member of our funny farm. So, Carol’s failure is his success. And we’re darned happy about it! Failing, in this case, took Carol a great deal of work. She not only had to train and socialise Bodhi to the point where he could be adopted easily, she had to find him a temporary home for the summer. Bodhi is too big for Aleta and the logistics of moving a dog around the world these days are much, much more complicated than they used to be. Just ask Marlon. But, as with anything involving good karma, the stars aligned and things came together.

Savages

Turns out, adopting a pet in Albuquerque is cheap. The city doesn’t want a dime of your money. Not only do they give you a collar and lead, they throw in a free vet check-up and a 30-day money back guarantee if your new dog savages your sofa so badly you can’t live with them. While going through the paperwork, Carol asked if she could have all of Bodhi’s notes. Therein lies a tail (tale, surely – ed.).

When he first arrived at the animal shelter, our pup weighed a mere 35 pounds (~16kgs.). They thought he was about five or six months old and he was very, very anxious. Over the next couple of months he gained weight, but his anxiety only increased. It got so bad they put him on meds to try and calm him down. Quaaludes or Librium or something. It wasn’t clear from the notes. Even though he is a handsome, well-mannered boy, I’m fairly sure his anxiety kept him from being adopted. By the time we turned up four months ago, he had been scheduled for a final walk down the long green mile towards the Elysian fields and immortal felicity.

Options

Today Bodhi gambols over the hills of Sandia National Forest in hot pursuit of sticks and cuddles. And because he is no longer a liability for the city, he gets to run amok at our risk. A key part of his training was learning to ‘come’ when called. It’s one of the few things that he’s mostly mastered. A sharp call or whistle brings him bounding over for a reward of a neck rub and a treat. The neck rub being his preferred option.

Over the summer, Bodhi will stay with Carol’s friend-since-childhood Ginger and her husband Keith. Their daughter’s dog Zuko, a four-year-old mixed breed maniac, will be a perfect playmate for him. The two having already met and exhausted themselves wrestling.

The next time someone tells you that failure is not an option, you can tell them in fact it is. You only have to agree on the definition of ‘failure’. Failing at fostering and adopting your charge is by every measure a rousing success. Semantics be hanged!