There’s something about a dog when it looks at you ….and you know ….that they know…. you’re their person! Being a dog’s person is quite an honor! When your dog doesn’t run away from you and would rather stay near you. When your dog could do something else but they choose to stay near you. When you think that your dog thinks you’re the best….it’s pretty great…if you ‘know it’…you feel like the luckiest person on the planet. Getting that look & trust from a dog is as meaningful as getting engaged to be married Nothing is ever the same again. It’s trust and promise and future. When you get that from one dog or a pack …you feel pretty special and proud of yourself! And now you owe them everything in your power to provide.
I can’t tell them that I promise I’ll always be there for them in everyway. I can only show them – each and every day. With every action and touch for the rest of their life. I promise they’ll always have good food. They’ll always have shelter (and a spot on the end of the bed sometimes!). They’ll have regular grooming and baths..just enough ..not too often. They have the best health care I can afford (and even when I can’t). I will never put them in the care of someone I don’t know enough to trust with their lives. I’ll be there for the rest of their future. They will never be homeless or thrown out or abandoned. If something happens to me, they are going to be taken care of. They get to go on long walks and interact with their world. My world is their world. We’ll see it together.
When we need to leave them they know we’ll be back soon. It’s never very long. They trust that we’ll always do the right thing. I appreciate so much that they go into their cages without any fuss. That ‘trust’ thing again. They are so happy to see us when we get home. Not just to get out of their ‘compound’ but to see us! A jump and lick and wag all saying ‘glad you’re home’ and they jockey to be the first and closest to our hands for a pet…then they run to the door.
They live for today. For now. If you screw up, they’ll forgive you tomorrow. But you don’t want to screw it up. You want them to remember. Someday when they cross that bridge you want them to remember and wait for you to get there so you can do it all over again. Because it wouldn’t be heaven without our dogs.
