Some wise person said once, they hoped to live up to the potential their dog thinks they have, or something like that. There is something magical about dogs and men. Sure, women love dogs just as much and have just as good a relationship and feelings, blah, blah, blah. But I'm not a woman, so I can't talk from that perspective.
Dogs and man go back to when we use to chase down mastodons together. Today, we herd sheep, stand guard at some remote airbase, pull a sled in a fifteen hundred mile competition, chase balls or Frisbees, or just sit and watch TV. All the dog wants to do, is please its master, whatever that looks like.
Some people spend thousands of dollars on their pets. They say, 'Hey, he/she is just like my kid.' Since I've had kids I know the difference. I know I wouldn't spend thousands of dollars for something like a kidney transplant or surgery from a car accident like I would on my own flesh and blood, but I can understand those who do and why they would. What's funny is, I would run back into a burning house to save either of my dogs.
They would try to do the same for me if they could. Funny.
So, today, this morning, I have to do the thing dad's have to do and take my sixteen year old dog to the humane society to have her put to sleep. I would rather run back into a burning house to save her. I have to live to that level my dog thinks of me and do what she wants me-expects me to do, make the pain stop. I curled up with her last night while she got sick and then this morning, realized it was time. She had been sick for a while.
It was surely time.
Funny thing about those times. Dogs (and I'm sure other pets for other people as well) become this thing in our lives. If we truly want to admit it, in a way, we want to be like them. Imagine knowing someone-anyone, who, when you came home, ran to the door and kissed you and welcomed you home like you had been away for years, instead of just to the corner store for a gallon of milk. Imagine knowing someone who only wants to please you, love you, play with you, listen to you and whatever dribble you have to say so attentively that you would swear they were listening. Another guy, probably the same one who said the first quote, said once "Don't you wish you had the heart for god, like a dog does for its master?" How about the heart for anything like a dog has for it's master?
That dog didn't care what we wore, how we smelled, how much money we made last quarter, or if we drove a new car. All she cared about was being around us. Where ever I was, she was within feet of me, laying down, taking the pressure off of her arthritic legs.
Yep, that dog taught me a lot over the years. She listened to stories and could sense heart ache and joy and at just the right time, she would drop some dog wisdom on the old man that made sense-perfect sense.
When it was time to go, I swear she smiled.
She knew something.
Yep, I want to live up to the image my dog thinks of me. It would only make me a better man.
I once had the best dog ever, and had to make this same decision for her. The vet reminded me it was the compassionate thing to do, which helped because in the moment it was an intensely painful decision to make. Not difficult--she was sick and it was time--but painful. Good job, dog-dad.
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