“He was the most rotten, meanest, stupid dog I have ever had.” Those were her words as she cried, knowing it was his last day with her.
I looked down at them both on the floor and she held onto him
for dear life and I could see the tears in both of their eyes
as they knew it was time to let each other go.
I took him in my arms and put him on a soft blanket that I keep to take them on their last ride and as I did this I could see her
looking at each move I made. Most the time this is a one way trip for me, I don't make it a point to come back to see people, but for some reason I did this time. She told me Bull the 20 lb mix breed gave her trouble all the time. How he took her new shoes and she never found them again. How he would growl at her for no reason and run up stairs and take the pillows off the bed and lay on them on the floor.
She told me of other times, when he sat next to her and gave her love, being there when she needed him most.
So should she have given him away because he growled at her or because he took the things that did not belong to him ? She went to a trainer when he was little but the trainer said
that he was too shy and not very smart. She kept him any ways.
“ Why”, I asked, “ what could you see that all others could not in him.”
“His love for life, his being who he wanted to be.
Who was I to tell him to change this,just for what I would have preferred?” Wise old lady, wise old dog. They reached an understanding of each other, that many of us may never know. Though most of us try, do we understand our dogs ? Do we really understand
their needs and wants ? I hope to a small degree that we do and that we are learning from them, as they learn from us, but I sometimes wonder if I am pushing more of what I want onto them, than I should - or we all should. Do any of us, within reason, simply let our dogs “Be who they want to be”
This thoughtful piece was penned by Dan Rice, Pyr owner, U S A.
First appearing on Pyr-L discussion group and reproduced with permission
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