Thursday, January 31, 2013

Thankful Thursday - Life lessons from my dogs

I believe each of the dogs in my life is going to have a life lesson for me. I think that is the reason they all find their way into my pack, and I am thankful for their lessons (or sometimes when I am frustrated with them, I say this to myself).

My beloved Loki. He was a great dog with a poor immune system. His lesson to me was joy. Find joy in everything you do and be excited to greet everyone you meet! Run free and be happy, no matter what is happening (even if you are going to the vet for yet more poking and prodding). He was a joyful trooper to the end.

My Gemini Cricket, such a challenging puppy whose life was tragically cut too short. Her lessons to me was grief and recovery and forgiveness. This is a lot for such a little girl to have brought. From her death I learned the true meaning of grief. I learned that no matter how bad things feel, you can get over it (even if it stings like heck every day, your life can go on). I also learned that accidents happen. You can't always prevent them and when they do happen you can't blame yourself. If you do blame yourself for a bit (I think that is natural), you need to forgive yourself.

Hailey's lesson to me is patience. I think anyone who reads this blog on even a semi-regular basis doesn't need any more explanation than that.

I have known these 3 for a long time, but have been giving a lot of thought to Zaphod's lesson. As of right now, I think he is here to teach us about the true meaning of inner peace. He brings this calmness to the pack that we have never had before. Everyone who meets him is drawn to this.

What lessons have your dog taught you?






25 comments:

  1. That was lovely, I wish Mollie brought calmness lol , excitement yes :) Except at night when it's just cuddle time. xx00xx

    Mollie and Alfie

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  2. How beautiful you put it! I like to bring my humans fun every day!!
    Lovies, Miss Mindy

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  3. What a beautiful post. May I steal your idea for this post? I think I will write about this in the future. You are so right...each pup teaches you something.

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    1. Please feel free to steal it. I would be interested to hear about the lessons your dogs have taught you.

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  4. This is a great post. Thank you for sharing it with us. After we lost our little minpin i realized then, that they always leave a lesson behind, and the trick for me was learning to embrace them. Sometimes I still struggle with that. Last year was a very hard year at our house with loss and lessons, so again thank you for this post!!
    stella rose and maggie's mom

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    1. Sometimes the lessons are hard and suck. Gemi's lessons were once I would have preferred not to learn, but I did and I guess I am a better person because of them.

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  5. You summed them up in a nut shell. We have a little special place in our heart for Phod. We have learnt one thing that under pins everything...life is not just about me, myself or I. Simply that and when you share with a pet or pets, boy your never forget. Lovely post. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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    1. It is true, the relationship(s) you have with your pets are very special and unique.

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  6. Oppp we meant Thursday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  7. Me and Stanley teach our pawrents a lot! We also teach them to have fun and enjoy to moment!

    Your Snowy pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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    1. Those are great lessons. Enjoying the moment is hard for us people sometimes.

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  8. See us dogs are good at everything, even teaching you humans a lesson!! I'm glad your doggies were/are so good at there jobs!!
    Love Milo :)

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    1. I am sure you are great at your job too Milo. Thanks for being a good teacher.

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  9. Patience and to enjoy the every day things.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  10. Oh Lee, I'm sorry that you are not feeling so well. I hope that your private parts are soon feeling tip/top! BUT, you certainly did pull some mischief on your people the other day!!! I did enjoy the Thankful Thursday entry. I have learned alot from my pets too. Some are serious, but some are important but not too serious. From my cat Princess, I have learned that a girl can never be too well groomed! LOL

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    1. Lee is feeling better. She still causes mischief every day. Life lessons come in all shapes and sizes! There is no wrong lesson. Have a good day.

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  11. Well, since my Human does not have a dog, she must learn her lessons from ME, Spitty the Kitty. And the most important lesson I teach her is about her place in the world: It is lower than mine.

    That is all.

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  12. Thank you, so true for all real dog lovers!

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  13. I couldn't agree more about each dog teaching us something important about life. I've had a lot of dogs (we're on our 6th and 7th now). Our first pair were Lab littermates who had been part of a biomedical research project. One of them lived to be 16 years old and taught me all about forgiveness and trust (a dog's supply is limitless, as far as I can tell). His brother was killed by a drunken man (a convicted felon) with a gun when he was 2 years old. The man then held me at gunpoint until the cops finally showed up. That was my lesson in grief and anger over our lack of control in life, no matter how hard we try to keep our dogs and ourselves safe. Our 3rd dog, another Lab, taught me about trust. We were a SAR team in her younger days (trust must be a 2-way street for a team), and then she lost the use of her hind legs for the last year of her life. She lived very happily in a wheelchair and completely trusted me to defend and help her as needed. I'll spare you the rest of the list... except for K - who taught me that love is endless.

    Thanks for a thought-provoking post!

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  14. I've brought fun and fluff into mummy and day's lives:-)

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