Truth

Posted on by Live & Learn

A dog loves a person the way people love each other only while in the grip of new love: with intense, unwavering focus, attentive to every move the beloved makes, unaware of imperfections, desiring little more than to be close, to be entwined, to touch and touch and touch.

~ Margaret Renkl, from What it Means to Be Loved by a Dog (NY Times, June 18, 2018)

 

Photo: (via newthom)

54 thoughts on “Truth”

  1. That is so so true, David. I take Pip, my miniature schnauzer into a nursing home to visit every week (not Anthony’s nursing home – another one) and the joy she brings to the 25 residents she loves is a sight to see. Today it is raining and she is at my feet in her little bed, looking up at me in adoration!

  8. Cats are so different. And you had to go with this photo, the big ear and head tilted to the side and cute eyes?
    Maybe we should all start loving our significant others the way a dog does 😊

    1. @Sawsan; I so agree with you!!!! But also, most of our much beloved ‘significant others’ are far less cute than a pet! 😉 And our dogs are certainly less judgemental with the ways they look at their ‘mum/dad’ (or however you call that in US English)

    1. Lori, only people who had pets know what we are talking about. I’m at an age where I think I could/would settle with ‘just’ a dog and ‘do’ with a male friend on an irregular basis (something like do stuff with them on weekends or hols or whatnot….). Don’t tell my Hero Husband, he might not fully agree to that statement. But then, HE never had dogs (of his own). 🙂

  13. Gah, now I feel guilty for yelling at the dog who snuck upstairs and took my spot on the bed with his adored Alpha male. I almost insisted he move, until I remembered that we are God to our pets. Nothing less. I let him bed down with his unconditionally dog-loving God that night. Glad to hear you’re thinking about another dog! I worry every Wednesday that you might’ve come to favor camels. 😉

      1. Ah, glad camels are still out for now — imagine finding a veterinarian for it, lol! I’m trying to talk daughter into getting *herself* a French bulldog. 😉 I am so enchanted…..

  14. You, David, know of course, that I would love this!!! And even if I hated the text which I adore too, I would still have that über-perfect head-shot of the lovely dog….. 🙂
    I shall enjoy a leisurely stroll across your latest offerings – you’ll hear from me!

  17. and those of us who have been loved by a dog, know that what Margaret Renkl, says is true each time our dog greets us or is with us! they posses this unwavering devoted love… 🙂

    2. Dale, as so often, you are the voice of wisdom…. 🙂 So true. But then, it’s up to us (the treatment….) and be honest, it’s far easier to please one’s dog than one’s partner… 😉

      1. Aww, thank you, Kiki. So very much easier… they don’t talk back and take whatever little or lots you give them!

  20. I so remember our puppy nook (formerly the kitchen eating nook)…we children, siblings and neighbors would sit on the floor or lay down with the litter of darling, silky,wavy fur, soft, wiggly, warm, sweet puppies, we’d let them climb all over us and we’d giggle when they’d lick our faces, then almost in unison we’d declare ooohhh, ick that puppy breath! 🙂

      1. Yup, puppy fest! We had at least two litters of puppies though it may have been three.
        We’d also have a litter or two of kittens every year…at one point we had a litter of puppies and kittens at the same time…all the neighborhood would come over for their dose of sweet babies pups and kittens…

  22. David; I’m back to this adorable puppy pic and your link – You know that due to my failing sight it’s a bit of work for me to read the linked texts (if I can even have access which is not always the case). Anyway, I copied the dachsie Emma text, put it in a word doc and printed it out, in big writing. Read it several times because THIS IS THE STORY OF OUR TIGI (= Tiggie, tiger as per my then young son’s renaming of our dachshund…. and a tiny tiger she was!). Every word is a full on description of what our pet did, stealing, jumping, doing silly impossible things, getting lost, crawling in spaces where we had to get the firemen to bring her out alive, expensive vet bills for overeating (gulping down stolen non-dog stuff), getting hurt because her greed was far greater than her stomach capacity) and and and…. Our little darling was brought to the vet at 18yrs old when we just couldn’t wait any longer (same as Emma) and she died in my husband’s arms while I sobbed and vomitted in the dear vet’s garden….
    You really are the best(est)! 😉 You bring so much joy in this house with your wise, witty, unexpected, sometimes sad choice of topics and often heartbreaking photos. MERCI, DANKE, GRAZIE, Thank You

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