The Joys of Owning a Family

I knew the first day I arrived at the Roche household that I would be truly loved. They were really excited to meet me, and they had every comfort I needed to make me feel at home.  I did miss my dog family, but my anxiety subsided as I got to know my new human family.  I have owned this family for almost seven years, and I must say it’s been a joy.  I have compiled my top ten list of reasons why it is a joy owning my humans.

1.  They provide food and water on demand. Sometimes I have to bounce the bowl with my paw, but they come running.  I also get some eggs many mornings with my coffee; just kidding I don’t drink coffee that would be insane.
2. They let me outside to wander the yard and do my business. And when I bark, they come running to let me in, but I won’t come in until I get my treat of course, fools!
3.  My family never spares the scratches when I am near them.  And sometimes I even get some of their scraps, just a little.
4.  I get to go on long walks through the park on the weekends, most times I am even allowed off the leash and that’s off the hook!
5.  Bob makes up fun songs about me; his songs make me wag my tail with joy. He also talks to me in a very unique voice, just special to me and that’s really cool. And I love that he calls me Mrs. Dog.
6.  Suzanne also talks to me but as if I am human and I understand her. I do understand a little of her words, but mostly I understand her vibe, and that’s really nice.
7.  Bobby loves to tease me but not in a bad way, he’s just having fun.  I know he loves me, he is always asking where I am, because he worries about me.  I feel so lucky.
8. Hayley loves to show me love by giving me kisses and hugs, and she used to like to dress me up in T-shirts and shorts when she was younger.   One time I was on the windowsill dressed in a T-shirt barking at the Verizon salesman who was standing on the front porch talking to Suzanne, and he stopped mid sentence to ask  "is your dog wearing a T-shirt"?  I was a little embarrassed, but what can I do? 
9.  I grab shoes, pillows and baseball caps to get my family’s attention, and it works every time.  I may have ruined a pair of shoes or two, and a multitude of BB caps.  I do feel a little bad about that, but I can’t speak the human language so I have to communicate somehow.  I usually just want to play or go out; dogs just want to have fun too Cyndi Lauper!
10.  My family will always be here for me and love me unconditionally and for that I will always be there for them to love and protect and will be forever loyal to them. And that is the top reason it is a joy to own my family.

All About the Journey

I was resting comfortably on my “Mrs. Dog” chair, curled up in my usual way, when I spotted it, the front door was ajar.  I can always count on my humans to occasionally forget to close that door, especially the younger ones. I arose from my short “dog” nap (I know the term is cat nap, but I refuse to call it that), then I did my fancy stretch off of the chair, where my hind legs stay on the chair while my long front paws stretch out onto the floor, with my head slightly raised and pointed ever so regally.  My breed is from England; therefore I must act accordingly, with style and grace of course.  Once my fancy stretch had completed and I was fully stable on all four paws, I looked around to see if anyone noticed the open door. Ah, as luck would have it, my humans were not in the room. I then sauntered over to the door, not darting as I would have when I was just a wee pup.  I have matured immensely over the years, but I still can’t resist a little adventure when given the opportunity.  I finally raised my paw and placed it on the door and gave it a good shove, and advanced out onto my front porch but not without some trepidation.  I stopped suddenly before gliding down the four steps, looked around again, thinking to myself, am I really free to roam? The thought of freedom terrified me, but at the same time made me feel so elated. I could explore the neighborhood meeting new people, dogs, cats and all other species, just the thought of it was exhilarating.

I ran like the wind down my street, stopping on occasion to smell the flowers, eat some grass, poop and pee to mark my travels. And no, I did not clean up after myself, I don’t have thumbs. That is one of the tasks my humans are supposed to do for me. As I reached the end of my street, I looked over at the Italian market on the corner and noticed the door was open, alas, another opportunity awaits me. This time I darted across the street, with absolutely no trepidation.  I raced into the market, wagging my tail intensely, knocking a few items to the floor. I was trying to score some treats, or anything remotely edible. Just as I was making my way around the aisle, this very large dark haired woman started screaming at me in Italian, and they were not very pleasant words. I’m no genius but I got the message loud and clear that I wasn't supposed to be there, so I quickly skirted out the door before causing any more trouble.  Whew, that was fun, but a little stressful.  Now where should I go?

I started to wander down the street, when I saw a nice family going into their home, leaving their door wide open.  I ran in behind them to say hello, when suddenly this young girl let out a blood curdling scream, I think she thought I was trying to attack. I was just trying to give her a proper greeting, well maybe a big hug and sloppy kiss is not considered proper among the general population.  Next thing I know, there were a few men chasing after me, yelling in Spanish. I know what you are thinking, how am I such a linguist? Well, I do have cable so I watch a lot of International Films with subtitles. I can’t believe the trouble I kept getting in, and the day wasn't over yet.

I decided to take a little run down to Main Street, there’s usually plenty of action going on downtown. While I was downtown, I helped an old lady get across the street, and in return she was so kind to me. She gently patted my head and told me I was a good dog. That made me smile and then I licked her hand profusely to say thank you.  Afterwards, I saw the train pull up to the station so I ran across the street to check out the situation. I saw that the door to the train was open and of course I tried to get on board. Whenever I see an open door, I assume it's open for me and I always have to go for it.  This very important looking man stopped me before I could get on the train. He held my collar firmly while some nice woman standing on the platform called the phone number on my tag.  My owner, Suzanne came to claim me immediately. This woman let me wait in her beautiful white Mercedes SUV.  I was extremely filthy and reeked to the high heavens, so that was so kind of her to let me wait in her car. I know I am a dog, but I can’t stand my own stench at times. 

When I finally arrived home with my owner Suzanne (aka Grand mom...by the way, it’s not what she wants to be called, it was my owner Bob’s idea), I was so “dog” tired, I could hardly wait to just plop down on the cool floor and pass out. But first I had to be hosed down, hate that ordeal. I love swimming, but hate to be squirted with water. I do love to drink the hose water, now that’s a good time. After I was rinsed and dried, I immediately plopped onto the floor, dead asleep and most likely snoring within seconds.   As I lay sleeping I had a very bizarre dream that I was on a long train ride, and on this jaunt, I met some really interesting people. I heard some amazing stories, some really sad but many were quite comical.  I awoke from my nap, feeling so ecstatic; the dream seemed so strangely real. Did I actually ride that train?  I paced around the living room for several moments, and then decided to jump up on the window sill, my favorite perch for the day. As I laid my head down, I sighed profoundly, and pondered on my next journey. I once heard a great quote, written by that very wise author / poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson “life is a journey not a destination”. That is how I live my life every day, not worrying about the destination, just enjoying the ride, with my head hanging out the window to feel the wind in my face. It really is all about the Journey.

Lesson Two- How to Live a Bone-afide Life

My owner / grand mom, Suzanne has been home every day since December, because she lost her job after seventeen years due to the messed up economy.  I love that I can hang out with her all day, but I find she observes me more and more, as if she is really seeing me for the first time. I am thankful for that but I have to say it’s kind of freaky, you know what I mean? If I could speak I would say move along, nothing to see here! Just let me do my usual daily dog routine, sleeping, eating, drooling, licking and grunting occasionally.  Lately she is trying to make me say I love you, I really don’t need that kind of pressure. I think I will help her find a job soon, heard that thing she types on for hours on end has great job hunting sites.   Oh, by the way, I have to admit that I do make grunt noises sometimes in response to her command of “Say I love you”, just to give her hope, because I love her and don’t want to let her down.

I do some observing myself regarding human behavior. And one thing that I know is that some humans are not as honest and sincere as they can be. I guess you could say I’m not so much either based on my little ruse I just mentioned, but that’s just a little humoring.  I am referring to how some people are not living a genuine life.  You pretend to be someone else, to please others, but in the end you are left feeling empty and unfulfilled.  I feel lucky that I don’t know how to be anyone else but me, that really makes things easy. I feel bad that it’s a bit more complicated for humans. I can only say, if I could speak that is, that you just have to trust your instincts. Listen to your heart and open your mind and spirit to the wonders of the world.  Don’t live in fear of failing, most failures lead to major successes.  Don’t take my word for it, I’m just a dog, just ask any successful person, and they will agree with me. Don’t contain yourself in a dog crate of sorts, there’s too much living to do. 

As I lay on my chair, couch or bed every day, I can honestly say that I am living a bone-afide life, in fact where is my bone?? I’ll end with this funny little anecdote. I took my owner Suzanne for a walk yesterday, and she was quite worn out by the time it was over. I must say I couldn’t hold in my business, so she had to carry it for many blocks in a plastic bag. The bag was not securely closed and some of the “business” fell on her newly cleaned pants, and she had to smell that all the way home.  I secretly laughed, is that wrong??  Go live, love and laugh today, you humans deserve it!

Lesson One- Simple Ways of Showing Love

Hi, my name is Mikki and I am addicted to licking.  I can’t help myself; it’s the only way I know how to express my love. I know that many people don’t appreciate the licks; well they think it’s kind of gross. My grand pop likes to call my kisses, “sicky mikki lickys”.  I don’t take offense because I’m a dog, and my feelings are not so easily hurt.  But I do have sensitivity to my family, I sense when they are hurting and always want to provide comfort, and of course in the only way I know how, big wet kisses all over their face or hands, I’ll even do air kisses, love to lick the aura around my peeps.

Does wanting to lick incessantly make me a “bad” dog?  I hope the answer is no, because I love to give kisses. I know that many humans don’t like to display their love, I’m not sure why, but I am guessing they just don’t know how. They want to be more loving but somehow along the way, they never learned, or they feel self conscious about public displays of affection.  I realize there are other ways to show your affection aside from licking people’s faces, or kissing, but some don’t even like to hug or tell someone how they feel, and that is sad to me.

When I first arrived in my new home, I was apprehensive and sad because I missed my mommy and daddy and my brothers and sisters. We had so much fun together.  But then my new family seemed really nice and excited to have me in their home, so that made me feel special.  To make someone feel special is really one of the greatest gifts you could give and it is quite easy to do, you really just have to pay attention to them.  You can show excitement to see them, maybe even wag your tail, if you happen to be a dog.  My family shows me love by feeding and walking me (they could walk me a little more..just saying) and by giving lots of affection to me.  I get an abundance of hugs and loving from my family, and it just feels so good, and makes me love them even more.

There are days when I don’t get as much attention, but I forgive them and still love them, because after all they are only human.  Humans have entirely too much going on in their life, I’m so glad to be a dog, no one expects much from me and I like it that way, less pressure.  I just have to stay out of trouble and keep watch over the family, which is very important, but I don’t have to do too much multi-tasking, thank God. I see the look from my grand mom before she goes off to work, that look of envy, because I get to lay on the warm and comfortable bed while she leaves to go to work and possibly have to deal with stressful situations. I am thankful for my owners though, without them I would not have a nice warm home and plenty of food. Money can’t buy love but it buys lots of bones.

So far I mentioned one way of showing love is by giving attention, another great way to show someone love is to forgive. Forgiveness is almost impossible for many to do, because if you are forgiving someone it’s because they have hurt you in some way. It may be because someone neglected or ridiculed you or betrayed your trust. These are all tough things to forgive, but if you don’t do it, you will continue to suffer even more, and it could be very detrimental to your mental and physical health. I forgive all of the time, and I have no worries because once I forgive my family, I can go on and have great fun with them.

 I remember one time, my grand mom said she would take me for a walk, but then she couldn’t get my harness on me so she didn’t take me. I was so disappointed, but I know she couldn’t handle walking me without the harness. I was trying to help her get the harness on me but I was not successful. I was hurt, but I forgave her nonetheless.  And sometimes, my family gets too busy doing things around the house and they ignore me, but again I know they are human and very busy people. So, I forgive them because when they are done, they give me beaucoup attention. I speak a little French too; I’m quite the chien, aboyer, aboyer!

Another very simple way to show your love is to give encouragement to others and be in a positive light around them. My family loves to encourage me, especially when I catch the ball with my mouth and toss it back, it’s as if I just leaped off a building and flew around the neighborhood, saving those in desperate need.   I love that they appreciate my many talents albeit non earth shattering.  My point here is that you don’t have to be a superhero, everyone is special in their own way, and should be applauded for their efforts to strive for their own personal best. 

I know I’m just a mere canine, but these seem like very simple ways to express your love and appreciation for others, and just imagine if everyone tried, the world would be the happiest place, with endless bones and chew toys at our fingertips or paw tips. Love is contagious just like hate, but hate only brings sadness and devastation. If you think about it, love is the only way to feel inner peace and grow in spirit, and if everyone would learn from me, a simple dog, who only wants to give my best in love and affection, we could all get along in this great big dog park we call life.