Such a beautiful soul! They are always with you

maybe a bit long-winded, maybe not even appropriate, but it's something i wrote after losing one of my dogs (i lost 3 in a 2 yr span).

from an avowed dog lover who gets weepy hearing about others who have lost theirs.


Detriment to Owning a Dog
MMl

There’s one detriment to owning a dog.

It’s not the initial hassle of choosing a specific breed or the cost of finding the right pup, or the trips to the vet’s office for the requisite shots. Nor is it the exasperating housetraining, instilling in the puppy where his bathroom is and that he should always use it. It’s not the cost of replacing items—nick-nacks, furniture, doors, shoes—the dog finds reason to gnaw, scratch, and destroy.

It’s not the continuing visits to the vet for checkups, injuries, and shots. Neither is it the incessant barking, which keeps neighbors awake, annoys everyone, and occasionally elicits a visit from an eye-rolling authority. It’s not even the number of times the dog is chastised for going into a fearsome frenzy when the mail carrier walks to the front door.

It’s not the worry the dog will get loose, trekking around—and then out of—the neighborhood, possibly siring pups or being hit by a car or attacking someone’s child. Nor is it the inconvenience of finding a dog-sitter when weekend getaways, vacations, or even expanded daytrips, occur, the trouble of finding someone to either visit the house or dog-sit, or the cost and guilt of a kennel.

It’s not the drudgery of stumbling through the hall in the wee hours of the dawn when the dog needs to be let out; or coaxing—even shoving—the dog through the open door into a cold, windy rainstorm. It’s not even the necessary evil of cleaning after the dog, lumbering around a shovel, scoop, and bag. Nor is it the baths—sloppy and soapy—and the ensuing aroma of wet dog, which isn’t much better than the odor of the creek water he swam in.

It’s not the supply of treats and food that are maintained with a watchful eye toward stock levels. It’s not the annoying begging for your food, his eyes large and entreating, watching your hand, waiting for a sliver to fall to the floor; nor is it the danger of tripping over your dog because he insists on lying wherever you walk, especially in the middle of the kitchen floor or at the foot of your bed.

It’s not the condescending sneer of visitors who ask (demand, even) the dog be put outside. It’s not the dog hair that impales itself into furniture and carpets, and thus onto your clothes. Neither is it the dog’s affinity to think every visitor wants to pet him and that every dog wants to fight.

The one detriment to owning a dog is that one disheartening day he’ll die.

The lovable, affectionate, attention-hound, whose personality is more human than your co-worker’s, who curls next to you for warmth, looks to you for food and entertainment, lays his head on your lap when you’re sick—this companion will be gone.

And if you’re a child, you can’t comprehend the gravity of the death, you only understand he isn’t there and you miss him; if you’re a teen, you stifle the emotions of losing the friend who fearlessly guarded you as you grew up; if you’re an adult, you come to terms with the fragility of life, even an animal’s, and hope he entered sleep peacefully, looking into your face and wet eyes.

The life of a dog isn’t long enough. But the companionship is worth it.

Ahhh, my puppy. ;_____;

She always had the prettiest paws. Even if I did get kicked at for playing with them. X3

gorgeous creature there. respect.

sounds like a wonderful friend...