As those that teach know and those that don't probably don't know, teaching is a very labor intensive occupation, especially for contingent (part-time, adjunct) faculty like me. If Gracie could talk, I know she would confirm this as our days together have taken on a more cerebral and less physically active demeanor. I also am no longer able to write as much or as often either. This is not just a matter of actual time, though that IS an issue. There is also the matter of mental space to think and dream. Students and their writing as well as the management of my online course spaces and the planning of my two different on campus class sessions gobbles up 90% of my creativity. Alas, the remaining 10% is not exactly the cream at the top of the bottle either. That tends to go as soon as the cap if off the bottle and bottle is tipped to pour.
Gracie was tolerant of this during week one of being actually back at school with students. I think there was also the newness of it for her. Week two started out with a bang: the rabies shot and physical for Gracie followed by getting our orange collar and leash. Then a bit of malaise settled in. At least, that is how I felt. Making Gracie rush through her morning routine has meant no more second walk to the edge of the creek to stare at the ducks and the stubby docks those lucky enough to live creek-side have. Instead, I was telling Gracie to hurry up in the dark and to not bark at the paper delivery person. Then I was encouraging her to wolf down her food so I could get dressed and we could head out to make the hour long drive to White Bear Lake, the sun rising in our bloodshot eyes.
Wednesday, Gracie pulled out the sun room doorstop and started to chew it. I was too absorbed in responding to students' e-mail questions to notice until Bruce came home, saw what was happening, and took it away from her.
Thursday at school, she went after the wooden doorstop in the office I am currently using (along with other part-time instructors at Century College). Clearly, all the watching me teach and watching me work on the computer and not having me play with her was creating some oral aggression; I needed to find something more appropriate for her to chew, something that she could enjoy while I was in my office. I picked up a bag of rawhide chews at Walgreen's that promised to be especially digestible. Inside the wrapping--extra bonus--was supposed to be some meat paste. Since Gracie likes the chicken flavored toothpaste that we've been using, I thought this paste would add a bonus she would like.
Fridays, we leave a little bit later in the day than we do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, I had created a clicker presentation (Turning Point) on the sentence to use with the three hour, pre-composition 1 class I'm teaching this semester and spent that morning time, fine tuning that instead of running with Gracie as we did the previous Friday. We have a long day Fridays: an hour in the writing center, another hour in my office, and, finally, a three hour class. We take a break midway through that class, but I am unable to leave the classroom since doing that would require making everyone leave the room and then locking the door. In addition, students often want to talk to me or ask questions of me during the break.
We got to the campus a little early. I had a few things to print, so I gave Gracie one of the rawhide, paste-lined chews. She loved it and dug right in, settling with it under the desk. When it was time to go to the writing center, however, Gracie was not interested in leaving with me. Several of the full-time and therefore highly judgemental members of the English faculty were standing in a cluster outside my office as we emerged. "She wants to stay and chew her rawhide," I explained as I more-or-less dragged Gracie out of the room. They gave me a look that I'm sure someone from IHDI would have given me too as this was a very unprofessional looking scene. Of course, I looked like a bully for making cute Gracie go where she didn't want to go.
Gracie was restless and needed to be petted during our entire time in the writing center, leaving me to help a couple students with one hand on the table and the other on Gracie under the table. The writing center staffer on duty when we are likes faculty to walk around making sure students are on task but the center was crowded and I didn't want to chance another "dragging" or appearance of dragging scene.
After our time there was up, Gracie practically dragged me back to the office. I thought briefly about bringing the chew to class but decided that her consumption of it was potentially distracting--crunching and tearing and slurping--for this particular class. Gracie was not any happier leaving this delicious and satisfying treat a second time. The chew as turning out to be too successful. For most of the class, Gracie stood by the desk starring at the students. At one point, she started to chew on a cord coming out of the technology desk. Luckily the TLC tutor spotted her and alerted me so that disaster could be averted. At that point, I attached Gracie to me by clipping her leash to my belt with our trusty carabiner and circled the room helping students who were now working at individual computers. This held her interest and she even managed to elicit a few forbidden pets from them. At the end of class, Gracie again dragged me back to the office to get back to her rawhide chew. I decided to stay while she finished the darn thing up. I recalled then how she had gone back to the spot where she found a chicken bone I wouldn't let her keep this summer repeatedly for over a week until, I suspect, the smell of the darn thing had been finally washed away by a combination of rain and that neighbor's built-in sprinkling system (the one that waters the lawn even during an actual rainstorm). Obviously, Gracie is a very unusual dog with a highly developed long-term memory.
So, what am I to do? Here is my new plan for week 3. I will not give her another one of those rawhide chews until Friday at the beginning of the long class. Then she will not have to leave it anywhere that she is then obsessed with getting back to. Maybe given three hours, she will finish it up. If not, we can stay on campus doing maintenance work on my online course sites in my office until she does since the campus is staying open until 6 p.m. now. The traffic is better from 5:30 p.m. on and all the other English faculty will be gone. What about before that class; what about the rest of the week? I will pay more attention to her, for one thing. We will also go for a run together Friday mornings to burn off a bit of her extra energy. Will all this work? I'll let you know next week.
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