Each day we can learn new lessons in this life and there are a few lessons in life we can learn from a dog.
My wife Paula and I resisted getting any pets for the longest time because of her allergies and we already had enough mouths to feed and care for with five children. After a couple years of relentless badgering on the part of our older children we finally broke down, succumbing to the pressure and got a dog for Christmas in 2007, a Bassett Hound, Tootsie.
I am happy to report we have survived the year of her growing from the cute little puppy to becoming a year old, fully grown dog. After 15 years without having pets of any kind, our home is now shared with Tootsie and she has grown to be a member of the family.
We picked out a Bassett Hound because of their gentle nature and have a reputation of being good with children. I had visions of a slow and gentle dog with droopy ears and sad eyes, you have seen the pictures, the cute lazy Bassett hounds.
I have learned that Bassett hounds are cute but are far from lazy and slow. Tootsie is not a hyper small dog but she sure is full of energy and personality. Hence, here are the lessons I have recently come to learn from this addtion to our family.
1. Take time to play. With 5 children in our home, Tootsie always has someone to play with when she wants fun. Even with seven people in the house, there are times when Tootsie can not someone willing to play so she will play all by herself. Tootsie has old stuffed animals she loves to chew on and we often see her in the back yard tossing a stuffed animal in the air and then going to retrieve it. She will do this for about a half hour. No one to play with, fine, Tootsie just plays on her own. Makes me stop and think about the need to better balance our lives with a bit of play and if no one is inviting us to play, then we ought to take Tootsie's lead and create our own fun. Work and busy schedules are part of our world, but we probably need to play just a little more.
2. Enless love. Everyone knows dogs are great companions because of their endless love. You can scold a dog for chewing up a new pair of shoes and five minutes later they are back to your side and loving you, forgetting about the verbal beating they took and your fury becuase they were bad just moments ago. What a great trait. I think the world would be a better place if we all had shorter memories, forgive people and love a lot more.
3. Scratch your belly. Tootsie is a sucker for anyone who will scatch her belly and ears. She folds like a cheap lawn chair the moment anyone even hints at scatching her belly or petting her. If you place your hands on her to pet her head, Tootsie will roll over on her back and ready herself for a full belly scratching. Now, I am not suggesting we all walk into the conference room today at the office and ask everyone to scratch our bellies as that might get an interesting wrtite up from the head of HR, but we ought to take some time out more frequently to show affection and love to our fellow members of the human race.
Sure there are many lessons in life and a loyal family dog is a great example of simple things in life; love companionship and playfulness. I also like the fact that my Bassett Hound tootsie is not over connected like the rest of us. She has no Facebook or myspace page, no twitter account, no cell phone, blackberry, iphone or handheld tracking devices. Tootsie's only electronic device is the small microship she has implanted in her incase she gets lost. The more I think about it, the more I like that concept... find me only when I am lost.
Got to love a Bassett Hound....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My brother lives in Tucson. His wife has a habit of bringing home unwanted animals. (They have no children.) They had a basset hound for years. It got bitten--in the eye, no less--by a rattlesnake! It survived, though. They eventually had to have it put down for other health reasons. It wasn't doing too well towards the end. That's always the sucky part of having pets.
ReplyDeleteTootsie sounds like a winner!