Unconditional Affection
by Diane Gross
Shelly
came into my life quite by accident, because I certainly didn’t
think I needed a dog. In fact, I swore I would never have another dog-?
especially an indoors dog! I just don’t have the extra time or extra
money for dog stuff. How much busier do I need my life? I work on a military
base full time for the wing commander, and at a place called Chasers most
evenings. Plus I write for a local paper, I maintain a home, I am in the
middle of creating ‘My secret garden’ in my backyard with
awesome landscaping, and I have an 18 year old senior son getting ready
for his college days. How would I add a DOG to my life? But, I don’t
often make sense to myself and I am one of the most impulsive people you’ll
ever meet -- so I got a dog from a friend who just seemed to know I needed
her. A fully trained, beautiful, loving dog. Busy or not, I am simply
thrilled to have her!
She is a nine year old, freckled faced, blonde, cocker-birddog mix. She may be an older dog, but she looks and acts like a puppy. She actually jumps up and down at the door whenever I leave and says, ‘Take me with you!’ When I come home in the evening, she acts like she has been alone for a week! If I stand up... she stands up. If I lay down ... she lays down. If I say, “wanna pee?” she runs to the door-? I can just hear her saying ‘Hurry, hurry.’
I can put a plate of food -- my food -- on the coffee table and she sits there looking at it, but won’t touch it. She doesn’t flinch or blink until my meal is pretty much finished -- just in case there might be some small chance I’d possibly give her some of it (when I look into those big brown eyes, how can I help but give her the last morsel?).
I say ‘Wanna treat?’ and she runs right to the cabinet where I keep her treats, and catches them in mid-air! I can put a cookie in my mouth and she sooooo carefully will take it right out. I say ‘Go get the squirrel’ and she is at that tree almost before that squirrel sees her! What a cool friend she is-? how was I so lucky to get her?!
She’s
not human, of course -- I can’t argue with Shelly-? but I can vent.
I can tell her my heart’s hopes and dreams without embarrassing
myself. I can cry and she lets me. She doesn’t care. Her only response
is love. How neat … a relationship that works when human ones fail.
She has told me a thousand times over that she needs me ... by the way she rests against my leg, by the way she thumps her nubbin of a tail at my smallest smile, by the way she shows her hurt when I leave without taking her along. I think it makes her sick when I say, ‘Stay,’ and she knows she can’t go with me.
When I am wrong, she seems delighted to forgive. When she is wrong, she knows to take herself to the ‘time out’ corner. When I am sad she clowns and begs me to play with her to make me smile. When I am happy, she is happy for me. When I succeed, she carries herself as though she is bragging on me. And when I am a fool, she ignores it. How could I have thought I didn’t want or need a dog?
Shelly teaches me daily the meaning of devotion. With her, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. She brings me understanding whereas before, I was ignorant. Her head on my knee can heal my human hurts. Her presence by my side is protection against my fears of the dark and unknown. She waits for me just in case I need her.
I think humans who can’t do these things for each other ought to become “Dog for a Day!”
Writer
Diane Gross lives in Georgia.
Her email is 