I never had my own dog as a child. My sisters each had one and they were considered family pets but their loyalty was always to one of my sisters first. It wasn’t until after I turned fifty and moved to New Mexico that I finally got my own dog. I have to say, it was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life! I didn’t know that I had a hole in my heart until my Sarah Belle filled it. She has become my best friend….
I thought I knew something about dogs before but I’ve learned so much from living with one that I realize I never even scratched the surface. I used to say I liked dogs but I’d never sleep with one or eat with one. Now, I do both regularly and it seems the most natural thing in the world. She has convinced me that dogs are a gift from God to mankind and they're worthy of our love and respect. They’re not only our companions but they can also be our teachers.
When I hear people talk about the intelligence of dogs I am reminded of a line in the movie Forrest Gump wherein the title character says: “I’m not a smart man but I know what love is”. While Sarah Belle is very intelligent, she has other qualities that I think are more important. My Sarah understands love, friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, trust and affection. She 'gets' all the good stuff. She has the sweetest heart and a personality that makes me fall in love with her more every day. I’m convinced God sent her to me to teach me.
While I’ve always thought of home as a place, for Sarah ‘home’ is with me, wherever I am. She just wants to be where I am and do what I'm doing. (That's why my food always tastes better than hers!) She’s my pack. She only wants to be loved and have a place to belong like all of us. She makes my house a home. She's always happy to see me. She's quick to forgive. She reminds me to play a little every day. She makes me laugh every day. She reminds me about how important it is just to feel joy in being alive. She brings me so much of that joy. She has opened my heart and my eyes to see things I never have. She's taught me the meaning of unconditional love... From giving my heart to her I’ve come to have more compassion for all animals. If Sarah Belle is capable of love then maybe other animals are too.
Sure, there are the little drawbacks. I dread rainy and snowy days because of the mud she'll track in! She loves to lie down and rub in dead things?? She drinks from the toilet. She puts things in her mouth that would make me gag! And, there is hair on just about everything I own. But, like any relationship, we take the good with the bad. Like my mother always tells me, we accept our friends, "warts and all". And, who couldn't love an animal that smiles by wiggling its butt!?
Mans Best Friend lives to please the people they live with. They look for ways to make us smile and laugh. It pains me to see them abused and neglected knowing how much they have to offer. How could anyone harm such noble creatures? I think Immanuel Kant was right, “We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”
I know, because of the differences in our life spans, that one day we will have to part. Until that day I will love and cherish my best friend and, by God’s grace, spend an eternity with her at my side. She has been my teacher even in that. I think it’s how we should see everyone we love and cherish. None of us knows how many days we get to spend with those we love so we should cherish them every minute.
Here are some things others have had to say about dogs...
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” Anatole France
“He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader, he will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.” Unknown
“My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am.” Unknown
(If I didn't have cats and dogs...) "I would not have to answer the question ‘Why do you have so many animals?’ from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by someone as close to an angel as they will ever get." Unknown
Now I get it...Thank You God.
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