Dog Gone? Maybe Not.

By Rickhiker, posted Sep 21, 2017

Hiking in the mountains I met a young lady who wanted to pet my dog. While she coddled over him I said, “Do you have a dog of your own?” “He just died.” she said. She explained that as a child she got a puppy. They grew up together, went everywhere together and were best of buddies. She even took him to college though he was very old and couldn’t get around well. And as he got worse she stayed by him day and night thinking they would always be together.

But one day, while petting him, he growled and bit her hand. She was startled. He never did that. How could he turn on her? Friends convinced her to put him to sleep. Reluctantly she did, but confessed that she hated herself ever since. “How could I kill my lifetime friend?” she sobbed.

“Suppose,” I said, “Your dog was a genius! Suppose he knew you better than you know yourself. He didn’t turn on you. You were too young to know about his getting old and needing to go. He knew you needed a helping hand to let him go...so he bit it. And it worked didn’t it?”

She was coming out of her deep sadness. I added, “Certainly you’ve heard of spirits of the dead returning to friends to tell of heaven?” “Yes.”, she admitted. I continued, “Is it hard to imagine that dogs also have deceased friends calling them to puppy heaven? Spirits of people are no different than spirits of dogs. They never forget who they love. Don’t you forget it. Talk to your pup every night. He is there. He still loves you more than ever. He’s waiting and he knows you’ll live a lot longer than he did. It’s OK.”

She was noticeably happy now as she considered my words. We parted with a long hug and thanks. I’m pretty sure her pup was standing behind her, thanking me with his wagging tail and smiling face. Love is the supreme kindness. ■