Thankful
You read my story about why I love collies above all other breeds, but why dogs in the first place? Why not be a crazy cat lady? Or just get out more and make some more human friends? Well, I thought that over on a rainy Saturday as I spent a punishing day cleaning the house from top to bottom for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, but really my answer was there with me all day. Literally. Wherever I went I had a tricolor shadow. Sirius spent the day following me around the house watching me clean because, poor thing, there wasn't much else to do. Outside it was raining cats and dogs, so the cat and the dogs had to languish indoors as I labored in one room, then the other, trying to do a deep clean against the odds, because every time they did go outside, they brought a lot of it back in with them. One time Sirius came back to the door covered in mud from head to toe. I've got a pile of old towels heaped on my kitchen floor, which had been scrubbed to a shine earlier in the day. Oh well.
But when he wasn't taking mud baths, he stayed wherever I was all day long. Geddy split his time between everyone, sort of wandering in and out of where I was, then going back to my husband, holding down the couch on a college football Saturday, where Daddy's Girl Rooney slept next to him. But, the theme was consistent: they are true constant companions. They can be mischievous, inadvertently destructive (and I have the muddy paw prints on my back door to prove it), and even disruptive, as Geddy and Rooney are proving right now as they are becoming increasingly vocal over the rites to the dog bed in a house full of sleeping people. But for all of that, they are loyal. Like no one else in your existence will ever be loyal to you.
They will love you unconditionally. They will light up at the very sight of you, and could care less if you're not as thin as you used to be, or need a little help from L'Oreal to keep that Irish red in your hair.
They will comfort you when you're sad, even if they don't necessarily understand why. They will play with you when you're happy. They will stay with you when you're sick.
They give you everything of themselves and ask very little in return.
It was small wonder a lonely little girl fell in love with dogs all those many years ago. All my "pack" of neighborhood dogs would spend their days with me and never question whether I was special enough or not for their company. They just accepted me as I was. Could I ever have asked for anything more from a friend?
For all their downsides (and there are some, I was definitely realizing as I stared out at my happy puppy covered head to toe in mud), there is just nothing that will come close, in my experience, to the unconditional love and acceptance of a dog. Children briefly when they're very small, maybe, but that of course becomes complex as they grow and flex their independence.
You wonder if they ever look at us and think the same thing. "You know, she's a pain in the butt to live with sometimes. She won't let me out to play in the mud, and I really want to. But I love her anyway." If they do, we probably earn that critique, as none of us are perfect, but for whatever they think, they stick by us for all our flaws. And that's a rare and special thing.
So, anyway, as we gather round on Thursday and gives thanks for the many bounties in our lives, I will have a lot to be thankful for. These three will rank very high on that list.
And they join with me in wishing all of you and your fur babies a very happy Thanksgiving. If you, Dear Reader, don't own a dog yet, and are landing here to help think over whether you should, I would direct you to go down to your local shelter toot sweet and look at those faces looking back up at you and think of experiencing the kind of love, affection and joy I get every single day, and then both you and that lucky dog can be very thankful indeed.
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| A little example of disruptive - Sirius ate the instructions! |
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| Quiet? You need us to be quiet? Sure, right after we wake absolutely everyone up |
They will love you unconditionally. They will light up at the very sight of you, and could care less if you're not as thin as you used to be, or need a little help from L'Oreal to keep that Irish red in your hair.
They will comfort you when you're sad, even if they don't necessarily understand why. They will play with you when you're happy. They will stay with you when you're sick.
They give you everything of themselves and ask very little in return.
It was small wonder a lonely little girl fell in love with dogs all those many years ago. All my "pack" of neighborhood dogs would spend their days with me and never question whether I was special enough or not for their company. They just accepted me as I was. Could I ever have asked for anything more from a friend?
For all their downsides (and there are some, I was definitely realizing as I stared out at my happy puppy covered head to toe in mud), there is just nothing that will come close, in my experience, to the unconditional love and acceptance of a dog. Children briefly when they're very small, maybe, but that of course becomes complex as they grow and flex their independence.
You wonder if they ever look at us and think the same thing. "You know, she's a pain in the butt to live with sometimes. She won't let me out to play in the mud, and I really want to. But I love her anyway." If they do, we probably earn that critique, as none of us are perfect, but for whatever they think, they stick by us for all our flaws. And that's a rare and special thing.
So, anyway, as we gather round on Thursday and gives thanks for the many bounties in our lives, I will have a lot to be thankful for. These three will rank very high on that list.
And they join with me in wishing all of you and your fur babies a very happy Thanksgiving. If you, Dear Reader, don't own a dog yet, and are landing here to help think over whether you should, I would direct you to go down to your local shelter toot sweet and look at those faces looking back up at you and think of experiencing the kind of love, affection and joy I get every single day, and then both you and that lucky dog can be very thankful indeed.
Same to you!
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