Friday, August 26, 2011

Dogs and loyalty

I love dogs.  They ask so little of us, yet give us everything they have without hesitation.  This fact was brought back to me this morning when I read this in USA Today online:


At the funeral for one of the 30 Navy SEAL's recently killed in Afghanistan, the dog of a fallen SEAL refused to leave the body of his owner/friend.  During the service he walked up to the casket and lay down beside it.  Such loyalty is virtually impossible to find in the human world.

I remember a few years ago I was in bed recovering from having my tonsils out.  What misery!  My little dog Tara Belle (at the time about 13 years old and slowing down considerably) could sense I was hurting and somehow jumped-climbed-clawed her way up onto my bed and lay down beside me.  In normal times she couldn't jump that high if her life depended on it, but when she thought she could provide me some comfort, she was there for me.

Dogs don't ask or care what color you are, what zip code you live in, what labels are on your clothes, what kind of car you drive, or how influential your friends are.  All they want from you is a pat on the head, a tummy rub, someone to throw them a ball, some food...any brand will do, thank you...and of course your love.  Pretense doesn't exist in a dog's world.  In a dog owners world it does, but not in a dog's world.  

You know the old joke about "dog" really being GOD, just  spelled backwards?  Maybe it's not a joke.

S





2 comments:

  1. Those Girl Scouts from the Navy are a special breed. True story...I know for a fact that the dog used to retire Public Enemy #1 was retired along with seven of those fellows from Girl Scout troop 6.

    Factoid.

    Many of those military dogs (Usually Belgian Malanois) have titanium incisors surgically implanted to pierce armor. They also have these wild rigs that allow their trainer to give them voice and visual commands when on a detail. Amazing actually.

    Those dogs are very well trained.

    This is very sad. Most Girl Scout missions include a dog. Those dogs save lives.

    Cheers,
    Bobby

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  2. I read a story that when Mozart died his dog followed the funeral procession and that he never left the grave.

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