A Different Perspective: 6/26/2024

Two months short of his third birthday, my dog was hit and killed on the highway recently. He was not a wanderer and very intelligent, so I’ll never know why he went there, but it happened.

I know all of you pet people have gone through the same loss. It is an immutable fact that our most loyal friends will leave us too soon, and there is no cushion to soften that loss.

Anyone who has lived decades and always had pets, has been through that darkness repeatedly because, even if they reach old age, they will go all too quickly. Every time we’ve felt the agony, and yet we’ve always found a new soul to complete us. There is no replacing or comparing, just another chapter of love to explore, develop, and embrace.

I needed to be reminded of that cycle of promise, so I set a two-ton memorial stone and carved the names of the ones who blessed my life where I live now. When each one passed, I felt there would never be another, but there was.

I expected this dog to outlive me, a strange and sobering possibility. One of the main questions a shelter asks an older person when judging puppy adoption qualifications is whether someone will take care of them if you, the new owner, move on before their time. Fortunately, I do.

Like choosing friends, getting a dog has different meanings for different people, a matter of perspective. They want a working dog, a hunting partner, a lap dog, or a guard dog, to name just a few. The breed aside, there are the human personalities that want a dog to make them less lonely or feel needed, to impress or even intimidate others, to make kids happy, or trying to relive a childhood family dog.

“It’s a dog’s life” can mean anything from starved and abused to the ones who take over the bed, leaving people complaining about a bad night’s sleep. When I say, “And whose bed is it?” they laugh, maybe a little sleepily, and nothing changes.

The luckiest dogs are adopted by people who truly appreciate their potential for limitless love and unconditional loyalty and encourage the development of those traits by giving them trust. Other than food, water, and shelter, all they need is to be loved by someone they can absolutely depend on.

Statistically, it seems it’s easier for people to give that to a dog (or cat, or …) than to another person. Many folks overthink things and are afraid of being hurt if trust is betrayed. Treat a dog right, and trust is strong both ways. Unlike people, a good dog never needs anything more.

Some folks pay a lot of money for a purebred animal, and that’s OK, but I’m a fan of Heinze 57 herding mutts, what I call shelter shepherds. They tend to have fewer inbred genetic problems, like dysplasia and are generally more intelligent.

Shelters these days want to bring dogs out to you, one at a time, which, from my perspective, is a terrible way to meet The One. I like to get out amongst the puppies and let one of them pick me. There is a mysterious and near magical process, that I’ve seen over and over, where both I and a little puppy just know.

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal; love leaves a memory no one can steal.” Irish tombstone

I hurt, but I will look for new love and fresh memories.