Love like a dog

I have always had dogs in my life, as my father was a great lover of dogs. Bonding time with Daddy was about bathing the dogs and picking ticks (strange but true)! Puppies were always welcomed into our home, with the only condition being that my sister and I had to do all the care, feeding and cleaning up.

My first dog was Sheba, a pink-nosed, mutt-puppy I found when I was about 9 years old, on the sidewalk outside my school. I recall vividly taking her home and begging Mummy, with tears, to let me keep her. “But how would you like it if your mother had died and someone found you and then gave you away” I argued. We kept her.

I have had many dogs since then. I remember adopting a dog when I was at university in Trinidad. Or perhaps the dog adopted me. She followed me everywhere. I was devastated when I returned for final year to hear that the dog catchers had taken her away.

I babysat a dog for 2 years – a beautiful golden cocker spaniel named Sandy. His owners had gone away and left him with my sister and me. I was devastated again, the day her owner came, without notice or thanks, and took him back.

I also remember Gizmo, my Corgi – last seen chasing down a dog in heat in Cassava Piece! I spent a week driving up and down looking for Gizmo. My friend Phillip would pick me up at 11.30 p.m. and we would drive around for an hour or two into the wee hours of the morning looking for Gizmo, slowly cruising through nearby communities, shining flashlights up dark lanes. Another friend Robert and I drove and walked all over the neighbourhood every day for a week looking for him. To this day when I see a tri-colour corgi, I wonder …

And then there was Nala – the sweetest Shih Tzu-Poodle mix. I was away when she disappeared. I still remember calling home and Victoria, then 4 years old, saying “Mummy, bad men took Nala”. How helpless I felt, powerless to do anything to find her, being so far away.

One day, Pablo, my sister Carole’s boyfriend, brought Minnie to her at 6 weeks old. She was blind and dying as her mother had rejected her. Carole nursed her to health and she lived for 17 years, despite the vet saying that we were wasting our money and she wouldn’t live for more than 3 months! She was just a sweetheart! She produced 2 adorable litters, and was the most attentive and caring mother. When I moved to my current home with lots of land space, Minnie came to live with us. In her later years, she lived at the front of the house, always there whenever I drove in to welcome me home.

I even have a running dog – there is this wonderful dog that meets me many mornings as I run through Manor Park. She runs down the road with me, stops and turns back for the next set of runners. Funnily enough, despite a group of us running, I am the one that she relates to.

Now, Mufasa, the male rottie/ridgeback, lives with four females: the three Shi-Tzu-poodle princesses – Cloud, Betti and Itsy – as well as Daisy, the mutt from the animal shelter. An hour or two after I brought the 6-week Daisy home, Victoria called me “Mummy, we have decided what we want to call the puppy. We love her so much we are going to name her after Grandma”. Grandma is still trying to get over that one, but recognizes the love of her grandchildren in that act.

And then there was Purlie. Purlie was Itsy’s daughter – the smallest one in her litter of seven perfect puppies that were born last year January. Purlie was full of life and fun. She had the most adorable face, and the cutest little bark. She was the first to greet me at my car door each evening. She was just a joy to have around – so full of life and love. She died 2 ½ months ago, but we still feel her presence, her energy.

And so I muse – the love of a dog is a very special thing. All the dogs I have had have loved totally, unconditionally and in the present. They greet me with joy no matter what time I come home. They awaken to the sound of my voice with joy. Even when I feed them late, they react joyously. A dog’s wagging tale is one of the happiest sights! They know when I am feeling down, and do their best to comfort me – a lick on the hand, a nuzzle against my leg, a quiet curling up at my feet, or as Betti did the other day, an insistence that she get in the bed with me! My dogs accept me just as I am and love me just as I am.

I realize that I am part of this special relationship in terms of how I love them. One thing that dogs teach you is the impermanence of life on this plane – anyone who has had a dog knows that they are likely to die before you. Having dogs has taught me to enjoy them when they are physically here and to let them go when they leave. There is no hanging on to my doggies – I simply enjoy them now. I accept my dogs just as they are and love them just as they are.

I remember the happiness that all my dogs have brought to my life. They will always be a very special part of me, the part of me that loves life, that is joyous, that loves unconditionally and that is not afraid to die. For once we really love life we know that there is no end to it.