Trust

Valkyrie in the front yard.

Trust
noun
1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
2. confident expectation of something; hope. 

Trust is something to be earned. Valkyrie, at the age of ten, has earned some of my trust. I trust that she will beg if I have food. I trust that she will snuggle with me on the couch. I trust she will pee on the floor while I am at work. I trust that she will snark at me about having her nails done but will relent because there are cookies to be had. But these aren't the kind of trust situations I am talking about. I recently moved to a house without a fenced in yard. I did fence in a small part of the back yard so that I wouldn't have to always have Valkyrie on a leash- practicing agility on a leash is hard work. Today I was working in the front yard and Valkyrie really wanted to keep me company. So I decided to trust Valkyrie to be a good girl and stay with me in the front yard. My trust only goes so far though. She was on a 25foot leash because there is always a chance that something might cause Valkyrie to break my trust. But today she was such a good girl. I weeded and she lounged in the sun. I raked and she rolled in the grass. My neighbors dog ran around in their unfenced front yard and Valkyrie came over to me looking for a cookie(which of course I went and got for her!).
Not only do I trust Valkyrie- she trusts me. She trusts that I won't let anything bad happen to her. She trusts that I will always scratch the good spots. And she trusts that I will always have an endless supply of cookies.
I love that Valkyrie and I have built up this trusting relationship. It's taken years of hard work and patience on both of our parts. But the benefits of all that work is absolutely worth it.