To Know Happiness is to Know a Dog

I Just finished reading Marley & Me. No I am not that fast of a reader; seeing as how the piece about my Jazmen, which was inspired by the book only came out yesterday. I have been working on this book for a week now. Reading it slowly, enjoying each page. This one has again been one of my favorite books about dogs. It is right up there with Old Yeller, now that I have fully read it. 



I could relate to it more, because let's face it, there is not much relating to Old Yeller. Those times are all but gone, You can relate to the love of a dog, but not the life that the dog or humans lives. 


I write this as I sit here in bed, with my Chihuahua, Biscut, going crazy at my feet. He gets these insatiable bouts of scratching some times. He will be sitting, standing, or laying and out of the blue as is some little cog in his brain slipped, he will avert all hopes of grace and begin nipping at his fur. 


Dogs are on of the most amazing animals to ever walk the planet. Although Biscut is a nut sometimes, with mood changes that come on seemingly unwarranted. He is not a morning dog, and has been know to threaten life for simply disturbing his slumber. Loves to show his affection by trying to lick your face with his putrid breath. Has been known to go on the defensive, and sometimes switching to offensive tactics, for simply passing by. Is a bit spiteful when angered. He still has a place in my heart. No matter all of his problems, I cannot help but love him and he returns my love on a daily basis. There is nothing like waking up to him sound asleep beside me, and gently waking him up with a nice belly rum. 


I think that John Grogan put it best.

"Was it possible for a dog – any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours – to point humans to the things that really matter in life? I believe it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy. And the things that did not matter, too. A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water-logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not."

 Dogs are the human guardian, the constant companion. They teach us more than we could ever hope to teach them. I think, in the human-dog relationship, that we the human, the 'master', are actually the one getting trained. If it was the other way around, as we so often delude ourselves into thinking, then it would be the 'master' who is served food everyday, by our 'pet.' Instead, the dogs in our lives have trained us, and we do not even know it.

Not only has he trained us to wait on him hand and foot, but he has trained us to be better people. If everyone was fortunate enough to be cherished in the heart of a dog, then the world would be a much better place. You can be the worst person imaginable, but to a dog, you will always be god and be worshiped unconditionally. To know unconditional love, is to know happiness. And to know happiness is to know peace.

May Peace Be With You.

If you have any dog stories, please feel free to share them with us in the comment section. I would love to hear them.