Love and Dogs

Tonight I feel such sadness about the way the world works...the way life works. I've said before, that I always see the bad and I guess this is no different, but on a deeper level I suppose. Today, my mom was told it was time to put her dog to sleep. He has been sick for quite a while, but being the fighter that he is, he has managed to pull through. This dog has been her companion, her shoulder to lean on, her pillow to cry on, her best friend for years and years. He has seen her through every up and every down, every pain, every tear, and every smile. Some people think that "a dog is just a dog". I happen to disagree with those people, and I question the depth of their soul. Animals cannot communicate with us through spoken word, but to me that does not mean that they are lacking. To take the time to bond with an animal softens one's heart. Many people lack the ability to shut out the noise of the world, and focus on something that has no voice. I do not understand these people, and I have very little respect for any person that does not respect an animal. When my mom told me about her dog, my mind began to travel down the same road it often does and it brought me back to the same place it brings me everytime. Deep sadness. Call me negative, call me a downer...a pessimist. I don't really care. The fact is that there are awful, horrific things going on in the world and just life in general can be so mean....that's for another post though. Pets get such a small amount of time on this earth compared to most of us. I love Zeus and Fritz more than I can explain and they have given me such an overwhelming amount of happiness. I realize that they will not be with me forever, so I choose to try and make their short little lives as sweet as possible....even if that means cramming them in the bed with me at night and ending up with a foot and a half of space to sleep in. I know that when the day comes that I am faced with the situation that my mom is now, I will never regret the times I rushed home to let them out of their room to play and the nights that I crammed them in the bed with me instead of telling them to get in their own bed.


"He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always have. He is just my dog."
- Gene Hill

"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace."
- Milan Kundera

"You may have a dog that won't sit up, roll over or even cook breakfast, not because she's too stupid to learn how but because she's too smart to bother."
- Rick Horowitz, Chicago Tribune

"The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man's."
- Mark Twain, Letter to W D Howells, 4/2/1899