IN PRAISE OF OUR CANINE FRIENDS

Their unconditional love
Constant friendship
Ability to touch our hearts by simply touching our hand or looking with those deep thoughtful eyes if they can touch
Youth and enthusiasm brought forth with a simple word, and showing with a simple wag of a tail



just to start

The way the little footwarmers quietly take over the bed through the course of the night, so that you wake up huddled at the edge of the bed perilously close to falling out. That and the way the little buggers charge into the water after their frisbee, and the way they snort the air when there's meat on the stove.

The way they roll over to have their bellies rubbed...such simple pleasantries

I recall the ancient wisdom:

"But now ask the beasts and let them teach you,
and the birds of the air and let them tell you,
or speak to the earth and let it teach you,
and let the fish of the sea recount to you,
which among these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this,
in Whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all human beings."
Job 12:7-10

I watch my doggies at play and at sleep and know that such fine and hairy fellow creatures live in the moment, and their devotion, loyalty, trust, and honesty is perhaps the closest thing to what we humans consider as "living right" in the spiritual sense.

And we all know what DOG spells backwards! WOOF, WOOF (in ¾ time)

and best of all, they especially like my cat jokes.

Ooooh, a doggie thread.....

I love the way my dog smiles - ears down as down can get, a little twinkle in her eyes and a little duck and wiggle.

AT the moment i dont have a dog of my own but, I do certainly enjoy the critters, and I think my cats serve much of the same purpose.
I have many dogs I admire and spend time with though...and I adore seeing " Max " <the studios resident golden> who needs to tell me all of whats been happening whilst Ive been gone......I actually understand his language...how lovely that is!

Dogs are wonderous critters, for sure. One attribute commonly credited to our canid bretheren is honesty and lack of guile. Poppycock! For instance, I have seen frequently that one dog, desirous of something currently under the control of a more dominant pack member, may go just slightly out-of-sight and let off a rousing, urgent chorus of "Alert!" barks. As the rest of the pack gathers to discuss and investigate, the one with the hidden agenda will slink back and make off with the resultantly unguarded coveted object.



timber

My sister's dog will wait until eveyone leaves the kitchen and then, under some cloak of silence and invisibility, will steal food off the counter.

I love Bailey's sense of humour, and Cleo's evident joy in being part of a pack and having a 'brother'. They have both taught me a lot about giving and receiving love.

I love the little snort Cleo makes when she's really happy and comfortable and ready to sleep. I love the little tiny tiny tiny kiss on the nose Bailey gives to me and the select ones he loves and trusts. I love the look Cleo gives Setanta when he is holding her. She worships him. I love the look on Setanta's face when he realizes Cleo has just paid him the ultimate tribute of farting for him (she only farts near people she considers very very important).

I love these dogs and all the other dogs in my life. They know about friendship.

I love waking up wondering why i'm losing crosswise in the bed.
Realizing it's cuz Bailey is at my feet pushing to the right, and Cleo's at my shoulders pushing to the left. They're breathing deeply, happily sighing and snorting and occasionally yipping as they chase rabbits in their sleep. I'm happy to be with them.





(i'm not so happy digging through snowdrifts looking for the booties they lost)

(Psst! They didn't "lose" them. The threw them away.)

Damn, PD, you warn't supposed to tell her that--she wants to believe they don't mind wearin' the booties . . .

One of the more amusing things about the 9/11 (well, if you're morbid enough to find things amusing in such situations) is that thousands of booties were donated for the search and rescue dogs, who adamantly refused to wear them.

Oh gosh, where to start?

I've had rough experiences with dogs and currently we don't have one. But Jake, ah, Jake was an angel.

When our nephew was one or maybe less he came over (with his folks, of course) and the dog let him 'pat' him (read: bang the dog on the snout or back with the back of the kid's hand) and overzealously hug him and all the while Jake just let it happen. We gave Jake extra stuff that night.

I remember Chewie was a fast learner. I taught him to heel in about a day; he was that good or maybe he and I just had a good teaching rapport going on.

Shadow used to kiss - a lot. When my folks came over, she'd constantly kiss my dad, who would push her away, yelling "Dog germs!" Shadow did not care and this made her want to kiss him all the more.

Knight (AKA Abenaki Knight) was long and lean and I loved that I could reach him without having to bend my knees (he was a retired racing greyhound who had run at Rockingham Park in New Hampshire).

:-D

grrrrrrrr, they did NOT throw away their booties!

I know I've told this story before.... I apologize for repeating myself.... but this is the perfect thread for 'Mickey's' story....

One of our ewes had her lambs earlier than we had expected, so she was still out in the pasture. (The ewes stay in a pen in the barn when they're getting close to lambing.) It was a snowy February night. Mickey barked his head off until I finally woke up and went out to investigate. There were two little black lumps in the snow, with steam rising up off them. We scooped them up and put them and their momma in the lambing pen, under heat lamps. Those little lambs would have died if it weren't for Mickey.

No one had ever taught Mickey to protect the lambs. He was a Pound Puppy (he came from the Humane Society). Mickey never barked, even at strangers. He didn't like to be in the house; he preferred being in the pasture with the sheep. The ewes would walk up to him, lower their heads, and Mickey would lick their faces.

We always called those two lambs "Mickey's lambs".

That's my story to praise a canine hero!

Mickey, most praise-worthy canine friend!
Thanks, PaL, I'd never heard that story.

I can no longer remember when Bean was not in my life. She is such a joy. When I adopted here, July 2000, I was told that she had been terribly abuse and might not adjust well. In addition, I was told she dested cats and I already had Carlotta but I thought they could and would overcome there differences. Two years later Carlotta and Bean tolerate each other and Carlotta runs a tight ship and always keeps the upper hand.

Bean who trembled at the sight of a human has calmed down when in the house although she is still skeptical of strangers. She is completely house trained and will sit and lay down on command. Bean comes when she is called but stay is in the distant future. Training her has been difficult as I do believe she is an alpha bitch and was most likely abused because she was difficult to train. So now of I have a lovely abused but bossy well trained dog. She is a Minpin and looks like ZaZu, Matix500's puppy.

Bean and Carlotta are named after two characters in one of my favorite books, Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card.

Me, too, P & L.....Good on ya, Mickey!

The ex has custody of my Maggie ~ a Mother's Day gift to myself about ten years ago. She's a cocker-spaniel/dachshund mix and the most lovable perpetual puppy!

When I see her now, (I can hear her barking two blocks away because she can hear my car coming) I get down on my hands and knees to scratch her grey beard and she tells me all of the neighborhood gossip with tons of kisses in between doggy sentences.

I miss my Maggie so much.