You’re an Anointed Teacher: Part 4: The Cool Thing about Kryptonite

I am the proud father of a two year old French Bulldog named Goblin. Goblin is like the mayor of Brooklyn. Everybody in the street presses the pause button on their lives to say hello to our little guy. I have met so many people on our walks around Bed-Stuy. I took him to a Jazz concert with another teacher friend, and he just sat there, winning people over. Walking Goblin has become a spiritual exercise in “Who is my neighbor?” 

One day, Goblin walked up to two people. They were unhoused. In my mind, I coded them as drug addicts in seconds. Normally, I would have walked right by them. Not Goblin! Goblin doesn’t make any rapid fire judgment calls the way I do. Goblin is a much better Christian than I am. Goblin showed them love. These two folks started crying. They said that Goblin made their day. These folks were probably getting ignored all day. Goblin was not going to let that happen. Not on his watch. 

Our little guy is the mayor of Brooklyn in public, but poor Goblin suffers from separation anxiety in private. Goblin has an entire team of vets, trainers, coaches, and friends who swing by to help him with his separation anxiety. After weeks of training, Goblin can be totally by himself for just under five minutes. This is not a terrible problem to have. He’s like velcro and he wants to be around us all of the time! He loves his friends at doggy daycare, but it can be exhausting supervising all of his dog friends. He comes home wiped out. Goblin wants to play, but he doesn’t know how. Nobody ever played with him when he was a puppy. 

Taking care of Goblin is a lot of work, but it’s the good work. My wife and I are doing our best to learn about how he learns. We have done our homework and subscribed to different schools of thought around dog care. It’s been a long road and we can’t even imagine life without our Goblin.