It's Just a Dog

In trying to share with others the place that Dogs hold in my life, I often stumble with the words and can’t really express reality. I get partially there, but the words I use, no matter how true and correct, simply don’t do the feelings justice. Someone else also tried to share their feelings with the world about their Dogs, which I’'ve placed below my own musings about Dogs.

Where the author did a good job, I get the feeling that even this noble effort to express the remarkable place a Dog holds in the life of a “Dog Person” is just not quite there. If the right words and combination of syllables really did form, everyone I spoke the words to would instantly become a “Dog Person” purely to feel, first hand, the limitlessness in every feeling that is felt when expressed to and from a Dog.

Some day, perhaps, I’ll find the right combination of words to share who Dog is in my life and why they hold that place. Until then, I’ll have to stumble through some more and be content in my own love for Dogs, regardless of how badly I’d love to share the love.

If you know who the author is, please ask them to contact me and I’ll credit this wonderful piece of heartfelt documentation properly.

It'’s Just a Dog

From time to time people tell me, “Lighten up, it’s just a dog,” or, “That’s a lot of money for just a dog.” They don’t understand the distance traveled, the time spent or the costs involved for “just a dog.” Some of my proudest moments have come about with “just a dog.”

Many hours have passed and my only company was “just a dog,” but I did not once feel slighted. Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by “just a dog,” and, in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “just a dog” gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day. If you, too, think it’s “just a dog,” then you will probably understand phases like “just a friend,” “just a sunrise,” or “just a promise.”

“Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. “Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience that makes me a better person. Because of “just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.

So for me, and folks like me, it’s not “just a dog” but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past and the pure joy of the moment. “Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day. I hope that someday they can understand that it’s not “just a dog” but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being “just a human.”

So the next time you hear the phrase “just a dog.” just smile…. because they “just don’t understand.”