Being laid up these past few days has made me appreciate my dogs even more. When I am in my normal go-go-go routine, I work them into my schedule – sometimes impatiently. There are days when I want them to walk faster, to stop barking at me for attention or to just leave me alone.
Spending 72 hours incapacitated and immobile meant I’m with Wiggles and Snickers 24/7.
They’ve been great. They give me a reason to get out of bed. They make me smile. They try to cheer me up when I’m distressed.
Wiggles is a snuggle bunny. She wants to be up against me a lot. She jumps up on my lap, she sleeps next to me in bed and she checks in with me throughout the day to be touched, walked and talked to.
Snickers used to be snuggly with me and Ellen. Now in her senior years, she prefers to be nearby but left alone more. I think it’s because she needs to rest more and because she has the aches and pains of old age. The same thing happened with Shorty in his later years. I don’t take it personally.
I’m grateful to have them both. They love me. I love them. We share our love everyday.
I think if I didn’t have them, I’d probably lose my mind.
My pets know me better than any human being ever has except for my wife.
I spend more time with them. I see them every day. I know their habits and they know mine. We’ve been through good and bad times. We communicate with each other constantly. We care for each other. We rely on each other.
Sometimes when I talk to people who know me well, I think, “You don’t know me at all. You have no idea what I’m thinking or who I am.”
I never think that about my dogs. They’ve got me dialed in.
Is that weird? Maybe.
We’ve all heard the tropes about the Cat Lady and the Dog Mom. Undoubtedly, I’m qualified to be a Dog Man/Dog Dad by now. I’m cool with that.
I’ve heard people say they prefer their pets to people. Oftentimes I do.
Still, there is a clear delineation between a pet and human family member for me. I’ve loved both and I’ve lost both. I’m not the least bit confused about the value of a human’s life vs. a pet’s life.
This doesn’t diminish the importance of either to me.
I wonder if I’ll be single for the rest of my life. I can picture this being a reality. What I can’t picture is not having a dog by my side whether I’m single or not.
