The Love for a Dog

Whilst looking up the full name of River's father last night, I came across an older entry from a friend's blog.  The final line of this page said that he was so proud of his dog that sometimes it hurts.  That got me thinking today.

I know that I love my dogs so much that it hurts at times.  A non-doggy person might think I am mad, stupid, pathetic, or even all three.  But what is wrong with loving a dog, or a cat, or a horse, that much?  I do not have children so I cannot and do not know what the love for a child is like - I can imagine it, and appreciate it.  But is the love for an animal any less?  Different, yes, and in many ways.  But like kids, dogs and other companion animals are our responsibility to raise and train in a way to make them acceptable to society.  And the love for and from children and dogs is totally unconditional.  It is heart-achingly pure.

Family life generally revolves around the needs of the children - that includes shopping, holidays, household expenses, choice of car, leisure time - the list is endless.  I hold my hands up and admit that my life revolves round my dogs!  But I don't think that is bad - it means I accept my responsibilities and all they entail.  I very rarely go out anywhere without the dogs.  This does have a downside which is that I often cannot do something or go somewhere because I am not prepared to leave the dogs for long hours.  When I was younger, I confess that I did - though circumstances were different - and I promised myself I wouldn't do that again.

For many people their animals are their sole companions and in many cases, their helpers too.  And I think a lot of people very much live for their dogs - without them, they feel they would have no purpose in life.  Living alone as I do, my dogs are a constant source of companionship, comfort, laughter, interaction, and tactile comfort.  On a cold evening, they take it in turns to be a hot water bottle beside me.  The house would be very empty without them.  My life would also be much poorer.

And in some cases, the owner of the dog is the dog's helper as in the case of Cliff - a very heart warming story about a very special dog, with special needs, and special people!



Evening relaxation

This close companionship doesn't come without its downsides, however, in case anyone is thinking I am wearing dog-shaped, rose coloured spectacles.  Whilst we don't have toddler sticky finger prints, and bits of lego, we do have mud splashes, dog hair and half chewed bits of firewood.  We don't have toddler or teenage tantrums but there are still moments when the household is not quite in harmony.  I am not woken by a baby or toddler crying, but am occasionally woken by the urgh urgh urgh urgh of a dog about to be sick!  Trying to put the light on, dash down the stairs to open the front door before the reappearance of food is quite a challenge when you are 90% asleep.  And you don't always make it in time which is when you feel cheated and wished you hadn't bothered to get up as now you are wide awake!! 



Occasional teasing and squabbles

Meal times are accompanied by pools of drool on the kitchen floor, sometimes things mysteriously disappear from the kitchen tops and you are never quite sure if it has been stolen, you already ate it, or didn't put it there in the first place.



Drooling for supper

Dog towel washing in winter is comparable to washing for a small family, whilst the time taken to clean and dry wet and muddy dogs after a walk is akin to bathing kids at the end of the day.  I don't know what my neighbours think, but my washing line is regularly full of old and fraying towels.  For every two loads of my own washing, I probably do three for the dogs.

Muddy Towel Land

Sticky fingerprints on the windows?  No, we don't have those, but we do have dog snot art on the house and car windows.  Bags of baby food and nappies in the car for every journey?  No - piles of old towels, leads and treats in my car - along with mud, wood, hay, and missing bits of car interior which have been chewed by Miss River.

And my bed is not just mine - no, all four of us sleep there.  Some may feel that is totally unacceptable or unhygienic, but I have slept with at least one dog on the bed for the last 30 years and I am disgustingly healthy!  There are the usual fights over the covers, and someone encroaching on my space, or there might be a snarl in the middle of the night when somebody stands on Tussock.  On the whole, though, we all sleep remarkably well.

Come on Tussock, let me in!

In these cold winter months, River has acted as a body length hot water bottle laying back to back with me, and I love waking up to see Tussock's head beside mine.  No, I don't get to lie in bed with a cup of tea, but then I have never liked to do that anyway!

God forbid, however, that I ever meet a man who turns my head!!!  It will take a special one to cope with my canine (and equine!) baggage, and goodness knows where he might sleep......