What Dogs Teach Us

His name was "Gordo" and he was loved by everyone who came in contact with him, but especially by his best friend Michael. Gordo passed away this weekend after a month or so of illness, baffling the doctors and breaking everyone's heart.

We LOVE dogs around here, so I thought I'd try to explain a little of the "why?" today for those who don't understand or worse - are cat people. :)

Dogs help teach us how to love. Not just the scratch behind the ears kind of love, but love that takes responsibility for the welfare of another living being. You receive the love everyday from your dog, and not only are you inspired to try and be the person your dog thinks you are, but you look out for him - feed him - care for him - sacrifice for him.

Dogs teach us that responsibility isn't an event, it's a way of living. If you want your child to learn responsibility, you don't go and buy an Easter chic - buy a dog. Dogs like to be fed regularly, enjoy a cool drink of water as well, and they require frequent trips for relief, relaxation, and exercise. They aren't an event - they are a regular part of the ebb and flow of everyday life - more than you ever realize - until you lose one to death.

Dogs teach us about that too. Many of us have our first real encounter with the finality and heartbreaking loss that death brings when our dogs pass away. Just know that when you buy your child a puppy, that they will have to deal with the loss of that faithful friend one day, and it's going to hurt. A lot. My first dog was a collie named Cheyenne and one day when he followed me to the mailbox, the garbage truck came by and he chased and caught it. Still as vivid today as it was then. When we lost our Great Dane (Henley) to cancer, it was a tear in the fabric of our hearts that's still healing nearly two years later. The only thing worse than losing a dog is never having one to love at all.

Dogs and mankind have been companions for centuries now and dogs have proven the "man's best friend" quip to be true thousands upon thousands of times over. Unlike other pets, they see their "master" as worthy of everything they can give. So when something like the untimely death of "Gordo" happens, forgive all of us who love dogs when we ache with Michael. It's just we know what he has lost.

Here's hoping that in time, Michael will find another pup to love, care for, and be loved by.

Dogs rule.

Reason #4267 Why I Love Dogs

Yesterday I spent some time reading about heroes. While reading about heroes in WW1 I came across the story of another hero. Yesterday wasn't the right time to share it, as our focus was on the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom. But I think placing it as close as possible alongside is exactly where both sets of heroes would want it to be. After all, that's where dogs were created to be.

Jack -- War Hero 

Story from Dogs Home Battersea, UK

In the British War Museum is a small wooden stand to the memory of Airedale Jack, a hero of the Great War. Just a dog . . . but a hero who in 1918 saved a whole British battalion from being annihilated by the enemy.

 Airedale Jack was sent over to France as a messenger and guard. There was a big push on, and he was taken by the Sherwood Foresters to an advance post. The battle raged, and things went badly against the Foresters. The enemy sent across a terrific barrage, cutting off every line of communication with headquarters, four miles behind the lines. It was certain that the entire battalion would be wiped out unless reinforcements could be secured from headquarters, but how? It was impossible for any man to creep through the walls of death that surrounded them. 

But there was just one chance - Airedale Jack. 

Lieutenant Hunter slipped the vital message into the leather pouch attached to the dog's collar. A pat on the head and then simply: 'Good-bye Jack . . . Go back, boy'. The battalion watched Jack slip quietly away, keeping close to the ground and taking advantage of whatever cover there was, as he had been trained to do. The bombardment continued, and the shells fell all around him. 

A piece of shrapnel smashed the dog's lower jaw . . . but he carried on. Another missile tore open his tough, black and tan coat from shoulder to haunch - but on he went, slipping from shell-crater to trench. With his forepaw shattered, Jack had to drag his wounded body along the ground for the last three kilometres. There was the glaze of death in his eyes when he reached headquarters - but he had done a hero's work and saved the battalion.

Jack was presented with a posthumous Victoria Cross.

Thank God for these amazing creatures who give so much. Our Airedales don't seem to be as heroic. Mick got freaked by a coat hanger that fell in the tub, and Stevie hates thunderstorms. But I know that the same heroic sacrificial heart beats in each of them.


Go hug your dogs!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

That's just too cute.

Okay, I Can Do Cute Too

Bunny's been posting so many cute pictures and videos, I just wanted to point out that I can do cute too.

If Dogs could talk

You can try all you want to convince me otherwise, but when we come home from even one night away from home, Henley's reaction tells me this is exactly how dogs feel.

We really don't deserve a love like that. And dogs know that too, and love us anyway.

We can learn a lot from dogs.

BTW - met a new dog friend named Chloe. She's a Boston Terrier that belongs to one of the neighborhood kids. We invited Chloe and him to New Hope. :)

Dogs Rule!

That dog always makes me sad. He's chained up in a back yard and no one ever comes to play with him. But despite that, several times he's showed the other animals just what being a dog means.

This time, he saved the life of the zeeba.

Dogs Rule!