I can tell you right now that a dog has a soul.
-Chris Stapleton
This post languished in draft status for months. How many months I don’t know. I was astonished to learn I hadn’t touched it since October 14th, and just between us adventurers I’m not entirely sure when I started it. Why is that? Writer’s block? Maybe. I mean, let’s be honest. That’s a question of if, not a question of when. I’ve never struggled like this to convey my thoughts though, and I finally realized that’s because the truth is – these aren’t my thoughts.
Really Deuce?
Well, yeah.
Life with an adventure dog is a singular experience; a never-ending foray into what adventure is really about – wisdom. It’s about other things too of course, but without wisdom we’d never appreciate the grand adventure that is a life well-lived. With that in mind, I defy you to look into these eyes and miss or spurn the wisdom enshrined therein. If you can, well then I’m truly sorry for you.
Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.
-Orhan Pamuk
I realize not every adventurer needs a four-legged sage along for the journey. You do you. However, having traversed trails and run rivers both with and without Izzy the Adventure Dog I can state unequivocally that our adventures are exponentially richer and far more worthwhile with her in the lead. This owes largely to the lessons she has imparted along the way. Here are ten in her words.
Lesson One:
Life is better in the boat.
I belong on the river. I’ve logged many a mile on various classes of moving water and sometimes found myself in the water – and not always by choice. In the event of an OBE (Out of Boat Experience) I stay close to the raft and present myself as soon as I can to be extracted and returned aboard. It’s true, on occasion I prefer to swim or run alongside on the shore to keep things interesting. After all, I do always wear my CFD (Canine Flotation Device). I never stray far though. I want to be with the crew, because I know life is better in the boat.
Lesson Two:
Find your view.
Fellow adventurers, let’s face it. There are times when we lose sight of what’s important and the things that matter become hidden completely from view. When those times come the thing to do is find a better view. The Arkansas Adventure Guide crew can always count on me to point the way to that view, which leads me to the next lesson.
Lesson Three:
There’s always room at the edge. 
I’ve been known on occasion to embrace my inner mountain goat, and, truth be told I sometimes make the crew a little nervous in the process. Here’s the thing though. That’s their problem, not mine. I know how far I can go, and I’m not afraid to go that far. How about you, fellow adventurers?
Lesson Four:
Run in the snow.
The snow is here – then it’s gone. What can I say? Life is short and there’s only so much snow to go around. If you don’t run in it, someday you will wish you had.
Lesson Five:
Never pass up a chance to lie down by the river.
Fellow adventurers, it takes a lot of work to get onto the water. It’s always worth it – always. But please, whatever you do, don’t let your efforts go to waste. Stop whenever you can and just lie down by the river.
Lesson Six:
Never pass up a chance to lie down by the fire by the river.
There is nothing like camping on a gravel bar. Car horns give way to coyotes’ yips and headlights fade into the night sky far up or down river. Wild critters, fellow adventurers, running water and dancing flames coalesce to form the answer, whatever the question.
Oh, and that red light illuminating the warm gravel below the fire pan? That’s me, the adventure disco dog!
Lesson Seven:
An adventure dog never steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and she is not the same dog.
Full disclosure – I borrowed this one from Heraclitus, but it’s the truth. A river is a living breathing lesson in the life well-lived; constantly reordering everything in its path, moving what it can and leaving what it can’t for later, lest it eventually become a lake and stop moving altogether.
Lesson Eight:
Look up.
Simply put, there’s a lot to see up there. If we’re always looking down we’ll miss it!
Lesson Nine:
Look Down
Photo by Bec Dwyer-Coop, Gram Crew Member and Izzy the Adventure Dog’s Mom
Yeah, I know. I just admonished you to look up, but sometimes it’s important to look down.
Like when, Iz?
Well, like when there’s something cool down there. Or when failing to look down could cause one’s feet to go astray. I guess the thing to do is look up when it’s time to look up and look down when it’s time to look down. It’s not that complicated, fellow adventurers!
Lesson Ten:
Leave the past where it belongs.
The past is a priceless gift to the present and future, but only if we leave it where it belongs. We have windows to the past and we’d better look through them, but when we do what we see is not all ours to claim. There are prizes there for us – lessons born from joy and sorrow that we so often imperil ourselves by forgetting, but let’s be honest. We typically only take from the past what suits us. The old ways? Some are better than the new ways and some, not so much, but one thing is certain. The past is where it belongs. Leave it there.
Fellow adventurers, while Iz worked on her contribution to this post my curiosity compelled me to examine its revision history. April 2nd. That’s when all this started.
So why the delay, Deuce?
I could tell you I decided the beginning of a new year was the time to finish and release it, and that would be the truth – or at least part of it. The rest of it? It finally dawned on me I was leaving out the voice, the author of all this wisdom. Once I made space for that…well, here it is. How did I finally come to that realization? You’ll have to ask Izzy the Adventure Dog.
See you out there!
Iz & Deuce
- Kayaks 101 - August 6, 2023
- Just the Place – Lower Buffalo River - September 20, 2022
- Sweet Release - June 23, 2022
