The Love of Animals

I was reminded this past Tuesday that I had left out a type of love that we lucky humans would be lost without- the love of our pets. What other creature can love us so unconditionally and be so tuned in to our every mood? Let me tell you what happened Tuesday and you will see what I mean.

My husband and I have recently acquired a 4-month-old yellow lab puppy. We had owned the dog exactly eight days when I decided to take a walk with her Tuesday. She was walking about as good as any puppy that had been allowed to roam free on 34 acres the first month of her life could walk. She had grown accustomed to the leash, but was still trying to pull me along. As we walked in front of this particular house, I heard cries for help. I walked across the yard, dog in tow, to see what was the matter. As I peeked around the corner of the house, I saw a ninety-two-year-old man lying on the ground. Squirt and I went up to ask if he needed any help. When asked, he replied, "No, my wife is coming," and motioned across the rather large side yard.

I looked where he pointed and saw what appeared to be a woman in her late eighties or early nineties coming toward us carrying a chair. As she arrived on the scene, I offered to help her get her husband off the ground and into the chair. That's when I realized I could not help lift the man without letting go of the leash! I decided to chance having to chase Squirt because I KNEW the lady could not lift him all by herself.

So I got Squirt to sit and told her to stay, a command she had never heard in her whole life. She stayed and I helped to lift the man from the ground to the chair, waited a minute or two for him to make sure he was fine, and then from the chair to the swing. All during this time Squirt never moved. In fact, I think she never even twitched. She waited patiently with a very knowing look on her face. When I finally was able to go back to her and pick up the leash, she walked very calmly to the swing and lay down at my feet, almost as if she knew these people were fragile and she needed to be gentle.

The love of domesticated animals like dogs is priceless and far beyond my ability to understand. As far as I'm concerned, God worked a miracle that afternoon. He placed me in the right place at the right time and made a dog understand a command that she had never heard before. Now THAT is love!