We have a dog. Bella is a mostly-lab mix with a soft, furry coat that sheds too much. She’s getting up in years and is almost twelve years old by our estimates (since she was a rescue, we are not exactly sure). She has trouble with stairs and likes to sleep in the warm sunlight that comes through our front door. She is trained to our underground fence that forms a perimeter around our home. She has done so well with her boundaries that most of the time she does not even wear her collar and stays in our yard. Since the kids left for college, she has had the house to herself and pretty much does what she wants, which is mostly sleep. She gets all of the attention she wants and then curls up either in the sunlight or in her bed. She is comfortable in where she is and what her role is in our family.

Recently, upon graduating college and taking a job in our home town, our son moved into our basement apartment and brought with him his dog. Bernie is mostly boxer with a little pit-bull mix. He is young (two-to-three-years old), muscular, lean, and energetic. He is also verbal and jealous, whining and barking when we pay attention to Bella. Bernie is not yet trained to the underground fence and needs to be walked on a leash frequently. Since I am usually up well before anyone else, I get to put on my coat at 5 am and take him out while Bella goes along with us, taking her own path and meandering around the lawn.

The young dog, much like a young, inexperienced leader, is excited and ready to take off, exploring his surroundings. He wants to pull on the leash, sometimes puling the handler with him into places the handler usually doesn’t venture. The handler has to make decisions about how far to let the young dog stray before pulling the leash back. He doesn’t need to have his spirit completely broken, but needs to realize there are boundaries that are there for a reason. In the meantime, the old dog slowly wanders around the area where she is comfortable, taking care of business and ready to get back to the warmth of her bed. She is complacent. She has explored before and decided the effort is not worth the energy required to go beyond the boundaries.

This morning, while going through our routines, I noticed something that made me think of what I must look like to my co-workers. Venturing into the world of healthcare administration and physician leadership, I find myself excited and ready to take on challenges. I am ready to jump into almost any project and offer an opinion. I am pulling hard on the leash, trying to explore and make my mark, much like the young dog wanting to see his world from a new perspective. But what about the dog that has lived in this house for several years? What about the old dog that knows the sound of the mail truck that comes by daily? Or the sound of the neighbor’s car as it slows to enter their driveway? The old dog doesn’t bark at every little noise. She’s heard them before. She knows which ones need responses and which ones do not. The young dog needs to learn from her.

The young dog requires attention of his handler. He requires work and energy to be sure he knows the boundaries and limits set by authority. Despite the energy and enthusiasm, he has to learn that it needs to be spent moving in the direction that the handler wants and at the pace the old dog can handle without breaking down. Slowly, the young dog is adapting to the pace and environment of the old dog. As he brings new enthusiasm and vigor to the home, he does so with some disruption. The old dog wants attention, but the young dog is jealous when the handler gives it. The old dog pitifully looks on when the handler gives attention to the young dog. The handler has to know when and how much attention to give each one.

I hope I can quickly mature from the “young dog” approach to a more mature “old dog” status without losing too much energy and enthusiasm. I want to respond to my mentors (I don’t want to call them “handlers”) and test the boundaries without creating too much chaos. I also want to learn to seek opportunities to bask in the warm sunshine of successes as the “home” environment is bettered. I guess I just want to be an old dog, but with a few new tricks.