FOR THE LOVE OF A DOG

One of our lessons in church today was about the importance of service.

It turned towards getting over having your service rejected - or perhaps worse, made fun of.

The teacher told of her experience with offering a homeless person a sandwich - and then having that same person throw the sandwich back at them.

We discussed our experiences with homeless beggars at WalMart - and someone mentioned casually....

"And maybe if they are begging for food, they shouldn't have a dog with them."

Oh, my.

That opened  up an interesting can of worms.

We live in a military town - there's an Army base here - and we have more than our share of homeless vets living on the fringes.

We've known people with PTSD.

So a rather contained UPROAR began of how an animal, in particular a dog, can SAVE a homeless person.

To have another being who UNCONDITIONALLY LOVES YOU.

Who NEVER JUDGES YOU.

Who is ALWAYS HAPPY TO BE WITH YOU.



Maybe everyone, but EVERYone needs a dog.

A CAT SANDWICH

The dog is snuggled up against my side onto of the bed.






She settles down with just the lower half of her body against me.






Then the cat slips in underneath the covers between the two of us.







And happily goes to sleep for as long as she can.

SLEEPING POSITIONS

I may be developing an unhealthy relationship with my animals.


I do have a lap horse - if it were at all possible, he would curl up and sit in my lap... all 1,200 lb. of him.


That's not my fault, that's just the way he is.


And I know cats are attracted to heat, regardless of it's source.


I just don't think of myself as a hot enough person to ALWAYS have the cat asleep right next to me.



But my dog.... that's where it's getting more than a little weird.  She's a cuddler. 




And I'm not.  At least not while sleeping.


But I am becoming very accustomed to having a warm furry body scrunched up right against my back.


With a cat, under the covers, on the other side, asleep behind my knees.

I feel just like the peanut butter in the sandwich.

HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGY IN THE WINDOW?

I'm in the market for a dog right now.

Yes, my husband already has one, but she is a blonde, scared of her own shadow, and prone to barking at only imaginary sounds.






Since my husband may be leaving for a year overseas, he and I agreed I needed a bigger, better sort of guard dog.

So I've been visiting our local animal shelter every couple of weeks, and have linked up with a German Shepherd rescue group.


And I'm determined to wait until I really, honestly and truly, fall in love with a dog.

It hasn't hit yet, and I am willing to wait. 

FELINE VS CANINE

We have a new cat, fresh from the animal shelter. Sweet, friendly and NOT afraid of dogs.

But we also have a dog who persists in chasing anything smaller than herself.... which includes this cute new kitty-cat.

This may become an interesting story.

PUPPY LOVE

Some people see a loose dog on a highway, slow down some to avoid it, and then drive on.

Some people actually do speed up, and try to hit it.








And some people stop, leave their vehicle by the side of the road, and risk life and limb trying to catch the dog and get it back with its owners.





Thank goodness for the last type.

HISTORY OF A CISSY

Over a year ago, I was looking for a dog to replace my chocolate lab, whom I had given to my oldest daughter. A friend of a friend emailed they had a German Shepard cross up in Tucson that obviously 'needed some room to run.'

They brought down a Border Collie cross who was, in one simple word, INSANE with energy and personality and energy and wanting more and more fun. Since they'd driven all the way from Tucson, and the dog was obviously WAY too much for an apartment dog, I said, sure, let's see how she does here.

How did she do? She peed on the carpet, she jumped on EVERYthing, she raced, she ran, she chased. When she slept, she slept like a log. But when she was AWAKE, she was, well, like I mentioned before, INSANE.

I don't know why I kept her. It was obvious, and the Tucson couple mentioned,  that she had been mistreated - it took almost a full week before I could pet her without her trembling. She was overjoyed with every single aspect of life - but also oblivious to discipline, correction or any normal avenues of dog training.

Her name had been Misty, which I felt was incorrect immediately. But she was spooked by almost everything - noises, sudden movements, other animals - she was definitely a sissy. And I can't spell anything the way it is supposed to be. So Cissy it became.

So I have a theory - or a story.

This dog, one of a fairly large litter puppies, was while not quite the runt, one of the smaller in the bunch. She was separated from her mother a bit too early, and given to a young married couple who thought she would be an adorable sort of lap-dog. And in the process of discovering this little ball of energy was ANYthing but a lap-dog, a lot of punishment was doled under the guise of being training. She was scatter-brained enough to never associate the peeing with the punishment, and ended up in the animal shelter.


But, in this fairy tale, she was then brought to a wondrous land called Palominas, and given eight acres to run and run and run across, and EVENTUALLY learned NOT to pee on the carpet...


Well, the carpet was REMOVED and replaced by hardwood floors, but the peeing still is an occasional difficulty.

And the INSANITY is still there.

NO, IT IS NOT YOUNG PEOPLE IN CHINA

My dog is at that age where I am being forced to balance the pain and suffering he is going through with my willingness and ability to put an end to it... and him.

Euthanasia for humans is illegal in most parts of the United States, but putting an animal "to sleep" is viewed as both humane and practical.

They are separate issues - I mean, almost like eating animals, but, as Willy Wonka so succinctly put it, with humans "that is called cannibalism, my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies."

But I also watched both of my parents die slowly and painfully. And believe me, I wish so much I could have saved them both the last two years of their respective lives.

And I do understand that as mortals, the end of our lives is not only a challenge for us, it's a test for those around us. Life isn't supposed to be easy - and often neither is death. It's part of the cycle of life (and I hate the fact that althought I have NEVER watched "The Lion King," that song still comes to my mind when that phrase is learned).

I love my dog so much - and hopefully I love him enough that while I can manage and help his pain, I will - and when I no longer can, I will have the courage to have him put to sleep.

HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGY IN THE TRUCK?

Some people think a big truck says something.

And I have to assume in Arizona, at least, it must be something western, cowboyish, male and not, er, the  inadequate phallus that comes to my mind when the truck is jacked up seven feet, had four doors and a "MCCAIN/PALIN" sticker in the window (besides, wasn't that race decided about a year ago?)

But there is one thing about a truck which  makes everyone smile.

A dog in one.

I don't know if it is the goofy grin on the dog's face, the nose pointed into the airflow, or just the fact that is a dog.

But it does make fellow motorists smile.

OPENING PANDORA'S BOX

A blog that I follow had a very cute one about her cat, and it made me think about the smallish cougar that lives at my house.

He will acknowledge that he is part of the felina family, but only the section which includes cougar, cheetah, lynx and ocelots.

And since he is the only cat is this section of town (outdoor cats around here are know as 'coyote food'), I have little to compare him to.

So I have become accustomed to a 24 lb. cat who stares down any dog that walks through the door, causes floorboards to squeak when he strolls across the room, and can eat more than both dogs... and often does.

So people have cute little kitty cats - I have the Thor of felines.

Should I think about his own reality show?

CRASH

I'm not completely certain why some people don't like cats.

I do understand that cats only pay attention to you when they want something - but how different is that from humans?

Dogs will consistently do whatever you ask of them, even if it's something stupid like retrieving a stick from a river or gobbling up whatever piece of food you toss their direction.

No, wait a minute, that sounds like just a male kind of thing, right?

Cat purr only when they honestly feel like purring - they sit in your lap only when they want to - and they will claw your ears out if you push their boundaries at all.

But right now I have a cat right next to me, laying flat on his back with his four paws all splayed out in different directions, and purring.

What more could you ask out of life?

DOGS ON BLOGS

I love taking my dog, Murray, on walks. He grabs the nearest tennis ball (or the Frisbee, but only when he can't find a ball), lays it obediently before my path, and waits, almost shaking in anticipation, for me to kick it. He then bounds after it, and brings it back as fast as he can.

Delilah, on the other paw, must be on a leash all times she is outside. Greyhounds have only two speeds - racingfastblurofdogpassingby, and couchpotatoe. And they have one direction - straight ahead. No reverse available on these models.

When I take them both on a walk, however, they are completely unified on one particular thing - a bush, tree, tumbleweed, cactus... anything where another animal has urinated.

I used to think of dogs sniffing at each other's private parts as just disgusting, and would get impatient with my own dog sticking his nose literally up my ass.

But today, a huge light bulb went off over my head.

It's a dogs' blog.

"Wow, Ruckus met this little sweet bitch, and he thinks this may be the one! And Ragman had to have surgery - man, he already lost his nuts, how much else can they take from this poor guy?"

"Well, over here Hank says he almost caught two illegals last night; Border Patrol was just ahead of him. Geronimo has a crush on that little poodle, and WOW, it sounds like... oh, forget that, it's just a rabbit's pee."

We have gossip via the internet - canines have it through pee.