Unexpected realization about unemployment #2

I thought I would take a short break from pictures to share with you another fascinating musing about the life of the jobless.

When I am unemployed, my dog is a better dog.

My pit bull, Blake, is a bit of a neurotic creature. I adopted him at about 10 months old (he is now about 6 years old) from the animal shelter, and since I've had him he's always had separation anxiety issues, and when he was about 2 to 4 years old he developed dog aggression (which is rooted in anxiety). So, in short, he's a bit of a handful. Don't get me wrong - he's pretty much the best dog in history and I wouldn't trade him for the world. But he can be difficult.

Blake, in addition to being neurotic and too smart for his own good, has also always been very tuned-in to my emotions. When I'm stressed, he's stressed. When I'm relaxed, he's relaxed. He usually has his worst "episodes" (whether it's biting another dog, which he hasn't done - for lack of opportunity - in nearly 2 years, or whether it's destroying the house) when I'm in a stressed-out place in life. When I've switched jobs, had to move, or had a particularly difficult event in life, he's at his worst.

But now that I don't have a job, I'm not worried about anything, I rarely know what day it is and have no need to be anywhere at any particular time, he is like a totally different dog.

When we were at the fishing camp with Pat's dad, Darrell, and his dog Zoe, I thought it was going to be a catastrophe. Zoe is a boxer, and Blake especially dislikes other bully dogs. I kept Blake on leash, but otherwise left him in the car (it's like a giant, luxurious crate, as far as he's concerned). And in all the time that he encountered Zoe, he never once acted aggressively.

Admittedly, his MO is to think he wants to play until he suddenly bites the other dog, and since he never got the chance to go after her, I suppose I don't know whether he would have gone after her or not. But I know my dog well, and he never showed any of the signs he typically shows before he bites. While we were all down at the river, he even stood calmly right next to Zoe, and even tried to lick her face once. I was flabbergasted.

Additionally, when I was loading bags into my car in Statesville, I had to make two trips - and I closed the door mostly over and left Blake in the hotel room while I brought the bags to the car. Usually this would be WAY too much for him; when he's in an unfamiliar place, he needs to see me, if not TOUCH me at all times. But when I came back to the room after about 20, 30 seconds of putting bags in the car, he was still sitting calmly on the bed as if nothing had happened.

When I am calm, he is calm. He has never been this calm. Have I ever been this calm?