Yesterday I took my dog, Molly, over to my friend’s house so
she could play with her daughter’s dog, Lucy. Two one-year olds. It took them
two sniffs and a lick, and they were off to the races. For a couple of hours
they ran and played and then, exhausted, they lay down and were best friends.
It made me wonder, for a while, why humans can’t treat each other like that and
then the answer hit me, it’s because we’re humans and they’re dogs. Dogs are
not judgmental or jealous. They don’t get upset by evil and discontent. You love
them and they love you—it’s that simple. In fact, they will take it to the next
level if you let them, because they will love you more than you love them.
There is no animal, other than a dog, that will love someone more than they
love themselves. Yes, as Andy Rooney said, “The average dog is better than the
average person.”
I think some people love dogs because deep down, and maybe
unconsciously, we wish we could be as innocent as they are. But it will never
happen in our present state of mind because we can’t even manage to emulate the
good that exists amongst our own ranks. We all want a world without the
meanness, dishonesty and jealousy that exists in our world today, but somehow,
despite all our research and well-meaning people, we don’t know how to find it.
But take your dog over to meet a new friend and there they are, two dogs
frolicking on the beach, complete strangers an hour ago, now lying in a shaft
of sunlight, tongues hanging out, recharging their batteries for another go at
it. Had Hitler, Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt been two Labradors, a Golden
Retriever and a Poodle, the war would have been over in 1940.
Are there bad dogs in the world? A few. But it’s been my
experience that those are dogs that were not able to bring their masters up to
their level, and so they reverted to his. Yes, they do come with some baggage,
but when we weigh the costs against the companionship they give us, we’re
getting a heck of a deal. They’re the only creatures on the face of the earth,
outside of our own, that want anything to do with us. When I leave, and don’t
want my dog with me, she follows me to the door and then, when she sees me
going alone, she simply drops her head and tail and goes back to the rug. All
is forgiven though when I return, and she simply puts my rebuff behind her, and
life goes on as if it never happened. I think that dogs have the same fears we
have when it comes to life. Storms come to mind, and so do people and other
animals they don’t trust. But the biggest fear my dog has when I leave without
her is—I’m not coming back. Ann Landers said, and I quote, “Don’t accept your
dogs admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.”
I have known people who don’t want pets in their life. There
can be good reasons for that, too; inability to care for them, or a busy lifestyle
that doesn’t allow any time for pets. Almost the same reasons for not having
children, I might add. I have hardly ever heard someone say they don’t want a
dog because they hate dogs. Wait! I take that back. I did know a lady that told
me once she hated dogs. Come to think of it, she hated most people, too.
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