I recently watched a show wherein the dog-loving mercenary decides not to kill the target because he witnesses the target (and his wife!) taking care of a stray dog. An older friend is inconsolable because her 10-year old dog left for his heavenly abode a week ago. She should have been prepared – throat cancer made his mortality rather imminent. And yet, she is devastated. I have told her that dogs go to heaven because if it is a place for the noblest of souls, then I am convinced it must be full of dogs.

We adopt dogs as pets knowing fully well the work it will entail. We know that they have short life spans. And yet most of us willingly and lovingly bring them into our homes and our hearts. They make our lives richer by their presence, their unconditional love and acceptance, their joy in your being! They make their presence felt for sure.  

Our 14-year old Labrador refuses to grow up – his friskiness belies his grey hair. Whoever thought of a dog with a salt and pepper beard! He has a mind of his own and is not afraid to express his opinion. If I come home late or return from a vacation, he complains. Everyone in the block can hear him vociferously criticizing me for being negligent. He willfully demands to be taken for walks and it never surprises me how he gets everyone to indulge him. His ability to get people to move is noteworthy. I often rely on him to prove that the inert mass, on the sofa or the bed, is a sentient being.

His capacity to love unconditionally is second to none. Despite his advanced age, he insists on guarding me by sitting, and mostly snoring, by my side while I read, eat, or work. He shows his happiness in my company openly. I guess I can handle a little complaining from time to time.