"He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always have. He is just my dog." -- Gene Hill
I can't remember a time when we did not have a dog. Over the years we have shared our lives with so many wonderful doggy friends - each with their own personality and each uniquely different. Some have left such a lasting impression with us that they have risen to "legend" status within our family history. Like the the irrespressible "Ralphy". Ralph was Alan's dog - a border collie cross whose reputation on the building sites around Cairns in the late 70's was known far and wide. He loved nothing better than a meat pie with the boys at lunch and a game of cricket at the end of the day! He was such a character and when he finally passed away at the ripe old age of 17 years we didn't think it would be possible to find another dog to replace him. But then we got Ben. Benny - the most beautiful Golden Retriever - was given to us as a puppy when Adam was just 12 months old. It didn't take long before he and Adam became inseperable. They would spend hours fossicking around the garden, exploring nooks and crannies and bouncing on the trampoline together! When Matthew and Kendall came along he took on the role of "minder" and was so protective of them all. Summertime at the river was particularly stressful for him. He absolutely hated them swimming and would sit on the river bank barking and barking until they got out of the water. Benny lived for 15 years. I still remember digging his grave under the white cedar trees in the bottom paddock. How we cried that day. We couldn't imagine our life without him. Then along came gentle Jess..... Right the beginning there was no question that Jess was Kendall's dog. So devoted and loyal. She used to lay waiting under the poinciana trees every day for Kendall to come home from school and as soon as she heard the school bus coming up the hill - would run as fast as she could to the corner to walk up the hill with her. They had such fun together and shared so many adventures! Again, it broke our hearts to say goodbye........
And now we have the 2 "Blue Heeler" scoundrels - Mickey and Buffy! For 10 years they have been in our lives and for 10 years we have been at their "beck and call". There is absolutely no doubt that they are the bosses around here. Life certainly hasn't been dull.
Did you know that each year, more than 4 million dogs end up in shelters and breed rescue organizations? In response, PEDIGREE® created The PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive to help shine a spotlight on the plight of these homeless dogs.
This year the PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a “Fan” or “Likes” The PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive onFacebook. So far, more than 1 million bowls have been donated!! The goal is for PEDIGREE® to be able to give a bowl of food to each and every one of the 4 million dogs in shelters and rescues by the end of the year.
The PEDIGREE® BlogPaws bloggers will host a Blog Hop from Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, September 19 to help raise awareness for the “Write a post, help a dog” effort. They will be hosting a blog hop where you can add the url (that's the direct link) to your Write A Post Help a Dog so that they are all in one place and we can see just how big of an impact we all can have in the lives of shelter dogs.
For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive through September 19th, PEDIGREE® will donate a bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. So please set aside a few moments to write a post. AND, if you know bloggers in other categories that might be interested, please share this post with them and ask them to write a post as well!
Together, we can all make a difference!
Join the blog hop now
You are next... Click here to enter What is a blog hop? Get the code here...
Oh that brought tears to my eyes. Such beautiful doggie friendships. They enrich your life, don't they. A-M xx
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this. Your post was beautiful, one could really tell your love for dogs. Aren't they just the perfect animal? I've heard that if there aren't dogs in heaven it wouldn't be worth going. Must say, I agree. My dogs know what I'm thinking or going to do even before I do it. They are just so tuned in. Every dog should have a loving home. If people knew; you get more than you take when you love a dog, I think everyone would have one, don't you?
ReplyDelete