HUFFPOST

Today I am looking back at an older Tuesday Tale of mine with some new thoughts and questions. If you have been following me for a while you may have read this post called “A Tender Moment Between A Man And His Dog.” It is about a beautiful relationship between a man (John) and his dog (Schoep). As Schoep got older and his arthritis kept him from sleeping, John would bring him to Lake Superior and hold him until he fell asleep in his arms in the water. That is John & Schoep pictured above. The picture alone speaks volumes!

This is such a beautiful story it is worth repeating. Check out the story on the Huffington Post here.

There are a few points we can take away from this story.

1) Pets are part of the family. They are a lifetime commitment. Since I’m on a roll with writing poems lately, I wrote one for this post about this commitment.

I brought you home
You became part of the family
A new life I’ve given to you
Which you accepted happily

We have our own “discussions”
Together we eat, play & rest
Now life with me is what you know
Things are surely at their best

But time surely does go by quick
One day we’ll both slow down
It’s inevitable that aging will come
And our bodies will start to breakdown

The difference between me & you my pet
Is that your turn to age will be first
But I will always be there as I have been
Through the best times and the worst

You see, you are my family
And we are together until the end
I’ll always love you, so never fear
I would never abandon my best friend

©Animals Are Feeling Beings Too

2) The other point we can take away from the story of Jone & Schoep is how the human and animal bond is a very strong thing. Animals are living, feeling beings just as we are. They fall in love with us and learn to depend on us like any other loved one does.

Today on a tv show I was watching they had a segment on dog massages. The way it was introduced was in a tone of such surprise. I don’t understand why. Are animals not feeling beings too? Of course they are. So why wouldn’t it make perfect sense that a dog, a cat, a horse, and any other animal would also get sore muscles, aches, and pains? Schoep sure did and John did everything he could to make him more comfortable.

There are many other ways we can make our pets more comfortable now and as they age. One thing I do for Cino so she doesn’t have to sit in silence the entire time while I am gone somewhere is play a music CD for her. The CD I have is music pets love: While You Are Gone” by Bradley Joseph.

I have recently been thinking about getting one of those cat strollers so I can take Cino for walks so she can enjoy more of nature. I think the book “Will’s Red Coat” has inspired me to think abut this. But strollers are expensive and I am unsure of how it will go. She doesn’t show much interest in going outside. She likes to sit at the door and look out but when I open the sliding glass door, she runs the other way. Maybe it’s just the “unknown” to her and I suppose I could always return the stroller. Have any of you tried one of these strollers?

Is there anything special you do for your furry family member?

By the way, if you are interested, you can catch up with John and his new dog, Bear, on his Facebook page: Schoep and John.