Why I Love My Dog
We got another dog about two years ago. It had been over ten years since our last dog. He died three months before our first child was born. Oh, how I wept and mourned his passing. I knew it was better for him. He had gone downhill very quickly. He lost control of his bladder, hard of hearing, etc.
Anyone who has had a dog that has lived past the age of ten knows the old age stuff begins to happen. Usually it’s their eyes. They get cataracts, then the hearing. They get lumps and bumps all over, and then the bladder problems begin.
With our new dog, we were lucky because my daughter has a small neighborhood business of caring for pets. Because either my wife or myself is always reminding my daughter to walk or feed the dog or cat, this has become somewhat of a family enterprise.
It’s gotten so we often take in the dogs we dog sit. We are lucky with this kid's business. Our daughter has gradually learned to take more responsibility, and we have had some really terrific dogs to care for. They each are very different in size and personality. Every one of the dogs is very friendly. In fact, it is through our daughter's business that we got our new dog.
One of our neighbors had to move out of the country for work. They had recently adopted a dog from the local shelter and had been diligently training her. They were heart broken when they realized they couldn’t take her with them. They decided to take a trip to see Yosemite before they left the country. That’s where we come in – we dog sat for this sweet puppy.
She is mostly a German Shepard, and it is believed she is part Beagle. I wasn’t used to large dogs. In fact I had always been afraid of larger dogs, because I got bit by one when I was seven. I liked mid size hairy dogs like Cocker Spaniels. When the neighbors said they were trying to find someone to take the dog. They really wanted to make sure she went to a good home.
After they picked the dog up and started to walk her home I mentioned this to my wife. He said why don’t we take her, since she is a known entity? Besides, we had already been talking about getting a dog. My daughter is crazy for dogs and really liked this dog. In fact this dog has a really sweet personality, and she doesn’t bark!
By the time our neighbor reached her home I had called her husband and said that if they hadn’t found someone to take the dog we would. Needless to say they were ecstatic, and so were we.
I have grown very quickly to love this dog. In fact she speaks to me and to no one else. She’s gotten to make sounds and growls. I know what she wants -- she always wants a treat. I’m the treat giver in our family. I tend to spoil our visitors too. Recently we had a dog that was considered an outside dog live with us over the holidays for about ten days. She had become an outdoor dog because the family began to have children, and they didn’t spend enough time to train the dog.
So it was rainy and very cold and we were told to put the dog in her crate at night and the contractor who was working on their house would let her out in the morning. Well this didn’t take into account holidays, and Sundays. The poor dog would be locked in her crate for days. Besides the dog's crate was not clean. So, we bring her to our house.
Lucky for us we had kept our baby gates and had them already installed when we got our dog. So this was a big help. We also have a doggy door which is another big help. This poor dog had a nasty cough and within three days of staying with us she didn’t. She also loved having a nice doggy bed to sleep on, which is one of our old couches in the family room that is covered.
She especially loved all of the food. She got her regular dog food, and then she got extras like the bones from short ribs, scraps from chicken and steak, etc. She got into a routine where I would get up first and come down and clean out their water bowls, and then go and get their dog food. They both loved to with me out to the garage to get their food. This dog also loved the fact that people were around and we’d pet her and talk to her a lot. Lucky for us our dog was very familiar with our visitor and got along famously with her.
You could tell as the weeks went by our dog was getting a little put out. Our dog is allowed to roam around the house and go wherever she wants when she wants. We couldn’t do this for our visiting dog because she liked to tear up things, like pillows, toys, etc. We really liked her and felt we could train her if we had to. In fact we had a big discussion on New Year’s Eve at dinner about potentially adopting this dog. We felt sorry for her because she’s left alone so much. We decided to play it by ear and just talk with the owners when they got home. That’s what we did, spoke to the owners and they were grateful for everything we did.
Now, we stop by their house all the time and take their dog out with us for a walk, and our dog loves to play in their yard. The owners know we will also be around to help with her if they need it.
Dogs are so comforting to have around. They love people. They love to be next to us, they love to have us pet them, brush them, walk them, and just be with them. When they aren’t around there is a big emptiness, a real feeling of loss. Since our last dog died before our child was born, my life had been just a little bit empty, until we adopted our sweet doggy and again had a dog in our home. I’m so happy that we did!
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