[sidebar]I have a “personal chaos theory,” which explains my gratitude to the dogs. I grew up with eight siblings and a strict father, in a home both frantic with activity and rigid with endless rules. I took off at 18, hell-bent on rebelling against anyone else’s idea of how to live my life. The wild years that followed—moving from state to state, hopping between unhealthy relationships—left me stressed and exhausted. I’d ditched the restrictions of my youth, but I hadn’t escaped the chaos. Enter the dogs. I had moved to Austin and was mid-divorce when my young son and I got Satch, an unruly mutt who kept us on our toes for 13 years, passing peacefully last spring. Now that my son is grown, my pack consists of Tatum, a heeler/Aussie shepherd mix I call “the nurse” for her gentle ways; Bubbles, a whip-smart Boston terrier mix who thinks she’s in charge; and Rebound, also of Boston heritage, my not-so-bright but sweet late-in-life puppy. [pagebreak] The girls delight in the structure of a daily schedule. The sight of me reaching for their breakfast prompts their Happy Dance—ears perked, tails wagging. Long walks thrill them, with darting squirrels and the scents of other dogs, while offering me a natural mind/body/spirit tune-up away from my desk. At night I call “Pack time,” and in a blur the girls race for the bed, their warmth and weight comforting me. For a long time, I didn’t realize I was following their lead. I know better now. I’ve come not only to accept their routines but to rely on them. Their schedule is not, after all, terribly demanding, yet it holds a regular rhythm, lending a steady beat to my own life. “Who wants breakfast?” “Who wants a walk?” “Pack time!” These appeals mark each day, proving that—no matter how busy I am—like them, I benefit enormously from an orderliness as powerful as it is simple. I eat, exercise, and sleep with a consistency I once rejected as restrictive. Now I find the pattern soothing, my chaos theory replaced with the mantra: Sit, stay, heal. My dogs’ daily routine lends a steady beat of calm to my formerly chaotic life.
