A Dog's Love

I was thinking last night, while I slept with my head on Lesli’s lap, about the love between us and how strange and unique it is – this relationship between humans and dogs.

I don’t think about things often. I react, based on instinct.

Perhaps that is a part of what I bring to her life. Not thinking too much. Not worrying about whether I’ve gained five pounds, whether I look as good as Tessa, the greyhound down the street or comparing myself to the other dogs I meet. I just take life’s surprises as they are – I take people as they are.

The rules in my world are pretty clear. I don’t spend much time analyzing them. I just live. When an older dogs shows up, I defer. When a younger dog shows up, I expect it to defer. When I'm angry, I show it. When I'm happy, I show it. When I want to roll in the grass, I do it. I don’t care what people think if they see me. Why should I? If I like someone, I show them. If they reject me, I move on to the next person I like and show them! If I want to explore something, I do it. I don’t wonder whether I should or not, whether I have time. I get more joy out of chasing a squirrel or seeing someone I love than most humans get in a week of living. I feel. I am. I don’t analyze it. I don’t spend my days worrying about my death. Who does that? It will come. Somewhere, in the dark and ancient recesses of my mind, I know that.

So I live. Completely and fully. Experiencing every moment like it has never happened before, and may never happen again.

I think maybe that’s the basis for our love, Lesli and me. I love her the way people should love each other – fully and completely, for who she is. My love isn’t fickle. I will love her until I die. She doesn’t need to question that. I forgive her when she hurts me. In seconds. It is forgotten. When she’s sad, I lick her face until her tears are gone. When she’s injured, I lick her wounds and heal them (or make them worse…which has happened). When her heart is breaking, I let her know I’m there. Always. No matter what. We teach each other about how to love, and about how to live.

My love her for her is instinctive. She takes care of me. And I know her love for me is unconditional. If I eat her underwear, if I get sick and make a mess in the house, if I shake mud all over her brand new car, she will still love me. I will still sense the immense joy she feels when she sees me, when she touches me, even if I chew her cell phone.

And we will continue to go through this journey together. Even though we’re both supposedly grown up now, we still share the same lust for life, the same curiosity, the same emotional highs and lows. If it’s possible for dog and human to be alike, then that is us. We are excited by and sometimes devastated by life. But both feelings pass quickly, and we move on together to the next moment. We’re both tough on the outside…but what lies inside is much different.

I think we were meant to be together, my human and me.