Must Love Dogs
I am not a dog person.
Scratch that. I didn’t used to be a dog person.
When I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in July of 2006, I did not want a dog. I had two cats and I thought that was enough.
Shortly after my diagnosis, years before I killed cable tv, my husband and I were channel surfing and came across an animal adoption channel. I didn’t want to adopt an animal, but watched anyway. (that’s the thing about TV)
That is the day I met Lloyd. Lloyd was a little black lab mix who had a brain defect. Because I had just been diagnosed with brain damage, I thought I was meant to be with Lloyd.
It was some kind of karmic connection that could not be ignored.
I’m not sure why I wanted to adopt a challenged dog but it might have been because…
- I wanted a distraction from my diagnosis
- I thought compassion for a dog could replace my fears
- I wanted to prove that even with an imperfect brain and body, love was still possible.
Whatever the reason, I wanted to know more about Lloyd. The more I learned, the more I realized that while I had room in my heart, I wasn’t equipped to take care of his special needs. Our two cats, my then hectic work schedule and dealing with my own health challenges stood in the way.
Just by considering bringing Lloyd into our family, I became a dog person. My husband noticed the change and my daughter took full advantage of the opportunity (otherwise known as my moment of weakness), and the next day we were at the shelter, looking for a puppy.
I knew I had become a dog person when I fell in love with Lloyd, and that was confirmed last month when I watched Guinness, our family dog of almost 5 years tear across our backyard, probably chasing a bird, running at the speed of light. In a flash, he yelped and I screamed as I saw him continue to run on three legs.
Guinness tore his ACL in his right rear leg. Last week he had surgery that came with a big vet bill and four month recovery time. Not spending the money or taking the time to help Guinness recover never crossed my mind. He’s part of our family and deserves a chance to get back to his active lifestyle of running, hiking and going for rides.
After one week, the surgery and recovery that I thought would be really stressful has shown me that I will do anything for this dog, along with a few other important lessons.
I’ll do anything for unconditional love.
- I will sleep on the couch so my dog doesn’t have to climb stairs.
- I will stand outside in the pouring rain until he finds the perfect place to pee.
- I will cover his medicine with peanut butter so it’s easier to swallow.
- I will sit with him so he doesn’t have to wear a plastic cone, even when I think I have other things to do.
What I learned by doing these things is…
- The things on my to do list that I think are important are not.
- Sweetness does help in delivering medicine or just about anything.
- Things are usually not as bad as I think they will be.
- Nothing happens at the ideal time and there is no ideal time for most things to happen
- Even when I accomplish less, I am just as loved, and just as satisfied.
Dogs want nothing more in life than a little love and attention. It might come in the form of a belly rub, fresh water, a walk in soft grass or an invitation to go for a r.i.d.e. They are easily pleased and forever grateful. A dog thinks you are the most amazing person ever. They ask for nothing and give everything they have.
While owning a dog might not seem to fit into the life of a minimalist, a dog shares a great example of how to lead a minimalist life.
I often think of Lloyd and wonder about the generous, caring family that adopted him.
My husband has a t-shirt that says “Lord, help me be the person my dog thinks I am” and I can’t help but pray for the very same thing.
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Amen! I am more a cat person then a dog person, but I love them both very much! I volunteer at our local no-kill shelter, and it is the best therapy in the world. I also would do just about anything for my pets.
Rebecca, I love that you volunteer to work with animals. Thanks so much for dedicating your heart and time. I’ve considered fostering, but know I would end up with a houseful of animals that I couldn’t help falling in love with.
I have had Scottish Terriers since 1993. You can’t beat the unconditional love of a pet, and they really do put the world in perspective. I hope Guinness has a quick and trouble-free recovery.
Thanks Carol, so far so good. It will make for a slow, quiet summer, and that is just fine with me. I am looking forward to the staples coming out in another week so we can dump the cone!
As an avid dog-lover, this post made me tear up with its truth! When my Maddie (border collie) had to wear a cone, I helped her onto the bed and slept w/my head in it with her b/c it seemed to comfort her. She’s my best bud!
Awww Beverly! The cone will not be missed, that is for sure. Dogs spend so much time naturally protecting and comforting us, that it feels so good to return the favor.
Thanks Courtney, I love reading your blogs and stories especially this one! *sniff* I look after next doors dog from time to time and it reminds me what my life was like when I had a dog and what wonderful company they are and how the unconditional love they give is so rewarding. Getting a dog is on a to-do list for after our wedding (in 2 weeks time)
Liz! Congrats on your upcoming wedding. That is big news! Enjoy these two weeks pre-wedding. It’s easy to get caught up in the craziness so enjoy as much as you can. It’s a very special time.
I look forward to hearing about your dog when he or she joins your family. xoxo
Beatiful post dear Courteny, I am also a dog person, my Tutti Macarena,a 2 year scottish terrier, give us happiness and joy everday, unconditional love.
Tutti is an adorable name. Thanks Javier for being such a good dog person.
Great post, Courtney. I’ve always been more of a cat person myself. Not that I don’t like dogs; I do, and have even had a few (one at a time) over the years. Dogs just turned out to be a bit “high-maintenance” for me, but they make wonderful loving companions if you have the time to give them all the attention they crave and need to be happy. And they will return all that love and attention and then some.
Mike, I love my cats too but they need to loved on their time! If the truth be told, they run the house.
Good for you, Courtney, for allowing Lloyd into your heart and therefore being able to enjoy life with Guinness (and he with you).
I recognize the “karma” angle. Shortly after I got my dog I found out that he had almost EXACTLY the same (very specific) health problems that my late husband had had. I had a lot of trouble with that at first. But it ended up teaching me life lessons I hadn’t learned dealing with my husband’s problems.
By the way, most of the time we find the “cone of shame” more problematic than the dog does.
There are also alternatives: a soft cone, an inflatable collar etc.
Wishing Guinness a thorough recovery and happy years with his family!!
Catrien, It sounds like you have had some life changing moments. I have to believe that you were supposed to have your dog in your life. The cone is for sure more annoying for us than Guinness, but it’s not his favorite either.
A couple years ago we heard a noise outside our apartment. We opened the door and in ran an orange tabby cat out of the cold. He was obviously homeless so we fed him some tuna and let him stay while we called the shelter. He had the biggest eyes and made a noise that sounded more like “mehh!” than a meow. Never seen a cat so cute and fun loving. I can’t do cats because of allergies but I seriously considered keeping him and luckily was talked out of it. I still think about him though, and hope he went to a good home. Hopefully him and Lloyd are out there happy and thankful that they went to homes that could take care of them.
Brittany, I have to believe that is true, and that both of our almost pets have loving families.
This is such a moving story! Dogs are truly kind and sincere creatures.
I feel that it is their purpose to brighten their owners day! Super glad that you became a dog person!
Woof Woof!
My eyes are wet. Hugs.
oh this made me smile while my eyes teared as you seemed to have written from my heart (what I don’t do for unconditional love speaks volumes!) .. I have three rescue pups – each is so different, yet each has taught me lessons (of patience, of not giving up, of seeing things in new ways) – my goal is to try to give them as much joy & happiness as simply stroking their fur or watching them play at the dog park give me! I know I am a better person for having them in my life – they do make you ‘more’ human and humane if that is possible! thank you for the beautiful reminder!
Courtney,
I’ve had to put two pets to sleep.When I look back over their lives I see how much more I gained from having had them in my life. When we agree to take care of a pet, it’s an agreement to take in a innocent being who trusts us completely, and in so doing, places their life in our hands. I’m always so happy to hear how people who might not have thought they had a warm spot for animals, change when they adopt a pet. I loved reading this Courtney. I’m also glad to hear that your dog is on the mend!
Thanks Angela, it is amazing how effortlessly they trust us to be true to them. Thanks for your kind words. Hope you are well.
I completely agree with you, Courtney.
When I brought my dog home 5 years ago I made a commitment to do my absolute best to provide her a happy, healthy life. My dedication to her rivals (and sadly often exceeds) that of most parents. And though I give her a lot, I receive even more.
I hope that Guinness is running around again soon!
So sweet and tender, as your love expands into places you never knew it would grow.
The joy that animals bring to ones life are truly amazing. We can learn a lot from their tender nature and simplicity. Beautiful x
“I will sit with him so he doesn’t have to wear a plastic cone, even when I think I have other things to do.”
This has to be the most touching blog post I’ve ever read. It almost made me cry.
Yes, dogs are wonderful and their love is unconditional. I wish we could all be a little more like dogs, or as your husband’s t-shirt says, be more like the person our dogs think we are.
Definitely the best blog post ever.
Hi, I don”t speak english, but your message is wondeful. After read your reflextion, I wan”t a dog, a partner, a best friend.
Sorry if i wrote with mistakes.
saludos desde Monterrey, México.
Thanks Neff. Your English is much better than my Spanish.
Let me know if you get a dog!
Fantastic. We have two dogs that we love dearly and last year one of ours also tore her ACL. We are saving money to travel around the world but we never once considered anything but getting her surgery. I’m happy to report that she is back to her old self, albeit with a bit of a limp up stairs (she’s old, too). But she’s back to the dog park running like crazy. A happy dog, just as she should be.
Kim, glad to know you were happy with the surgery. When will you start traveling?
I love this post, Courtney.
Dogs are truly wonderful beings. On days where I am overwhelmed with fatigue, my dog Rufus stays close knowing I need an extra bit of love; sometimes more reliably that the humans in my life.
I wish Guinness a speedy recovery so he can be back to chasing birds in no time!
They know when we need them, of that I am sure.
Dogs are the best people ! We have 4 !
I think it was fantastic that you took the time to research before trying to adopt Llyod. There are too many people out there that get in to way more than they can handle. We seriously researched breeds before getting our last couple dogs.
Too bad that the local shelter mistakenly called our dogs German Shorthair crosses instead of German Wirehair – BIG difference in engeries. But we have managed and have directed all of the boundless energy towards training our dogs for Search and Rescue. I have learned so much from our dogs (patience was a huge lesson) and I know that they have many more wonderful things to teach me.
I wish your Guiness a speedy recovery!
Thanks Trudy, I love that you found such a profound way to let your dogs expend energy!
The more stories I read, the more I am convinced that in almost every dog/human relationship it is the dog who picks the human. They are here to help us and to teach us and to show us the love inside our hearts.
Military Dog Heroes
Okay, Courtney…this post moved me to tears. Over the 30 years that Dan and I have been married…we have rescued and adopted 11 elderly Labrador Retrievers. Their stories have all been sad…thrown away like trash…some abused….some starved but EACH ONE wanting love, security, safety and desiring that blessed “dog routine” that allows them to feel that they have something and someone on whom to depend. Yes, it’s expensive..(a $2,000 larynx procedure on old Bob the chocolate Lab is but one example), yes, it’s somewhat restricting (a house/dog sitter on 24-hour call for when we must be gone).
We have a photo of an old dog in our office with the caption reading “There are some simple truths…and the dogs know what they are”.
AMEN…glad I am learning those simple truths from the dogs we have loved over the years. !!!!!
Susan, Your comment had me in tears! The comments from you and other readers make me realize how good our world really is. I am so glad to get to know about a piece of your life. Thanks for sharing and thanks for being such a special person.
Hi Courtney I loved your Story. I have had cats for fifty years and one day a black Lab pup
Was brought to the house by a friend of my sister and the Idea was to take the pup to The north shore animal league. Well that never quite happened. and the first thing that happened was he got a name Smokey. and then Smokey Had to be put to Sleep which almost killed me to do. he was replaced by two new pups I saw them six days old. and of course they had to have names Mozart and Wolfgang. When we got them they both fit in the picket of my sister robe two years latter Mozart weighted 185lbs and Wolfgang weighted in at little over 150lbs and they want to be lap dogs. And both all our cats and dogs get along very well. My feelings are if you do not like animals I wonder about those people. As animals only love a bowl of food and the chair you are sitting in.
Bob, I can totally relate to your lap dogs. Guinness is just over 80 lbs but has not sense of how much he weighs or space he takes up.
Last week I was visiting friends who just got two English Bulldog puppies and they were the size of Mozart and Wolfgang as pups. These little babies were all belly! While I don’t see a puppy in my near future, I love being around them and hearing stories like yours.
Beautiful post. We had to give up our fur babies when we made our decision to travel the world, and it was the hardest thing we had to do. Thankfully we still get to skype with them (the people who adopted them are our close friends).
You sound like a most wonderful family for Guinness (love the name BTW) and I’m sure that love is reciprocal. I hope he heals fast!
Thanks Pete, Do your animals have their own Skype accounts?
I love that you stay in touch with them and your friends who adopted them.
Here’s to Guinness getting back on all fours and ripping through your backyard again. The animal rescue organization I volunteer for, http://www.muchlove.org, although at all times thrifty, spares no expense when it comes to quality of health for the animals pulled from the shelter who are now in our care. Thousands of adoptable animals that were set to be euthanized due to shelter overcrowding have now found loving and happy homes thanks to tireless, caring volunteers and new parents such as yourself. My family and I recently adopted another dog, a chihuahua, who rules the house and her two 80 lb. dog siblings and she’s the best thing to come through our door in a long time!
Beautiful post, I would do the same for my dog, dogs do give an unconditional love..
Here’s to a quick recovery for Guinness!
I am equal parts dog person and cat person. I think that’s why we have one of each. Our girl is getting on in years and she sometimes limps as well. We’ve had the vet look her over and run x-rays but they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. We tell her she just shouldn’t run like she did when she was a puppy anymore! The vet said it’s arthritis.
Beautiful post about the nature of “friendship”. And I’m sure Guinness holds his own with those two kitties you’ve got!
Thanks Tanja, I’ve heard that supplements with glucosamine are good for dogs with arthritis. You might want to check with your vet. It’s hard to tell dogs to slow down!
Our girl definitely doesn’t listen to the “slow down” message.
We have her on glucosamine and it does help a little but the biggest help was when we moved to a warmer climate. Winter months were really tough on her.
Thank you for this post. Dogs teach us so much about love. I really think I am a better spouse, mother, and friend because of what the dogs and cats in my life have taught me about acceptance, joy, and open-heartedness.
Dogs are amazing and give uncoditional love beyond belief!
We’ll never forget April 6, 2011…it’s the day we had to put Goldie, our Golden Retriever to rest. We were blessed to have her almost 14 years.
She never knew she was a dog…she was our “daughter”. There’s not enough room here to tell you all about her, but if you’re a dog lover, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
I miss her most at about 5:00 PM every day. She was my drinking buddy. She LOVED her cheese and sometimes took a sip or two of my wine…hey – she had to wash the cheese down with something!
Have a great day!
elaine
Lloyd and Guinness were both in your family, or only Guinness? I read it a few times and am still confused if you only knew Lloyd from the TV, but if so, how did you become a dog person? What changed in your behaviors?
You might appreciate a eulogy of sorts I wrote earlier this month about Brady, for there are common traits among all dogs and their families: http://ariherzog.com/homage-to-brady-our-family-cockapoo/
There is a special place for people who adopt rescue animals, especially special needs animals. They can bring so much joy in exchange for your efforts and care.