This I Believe

My Doggone Philosophy

A friend once said to me, “I want to be the person my dog already thinks I am.” I’m sure everyone has in some way heard this saying before, whether it be on a bumper sticker, a key chain, or a decorative pillow. These words are truly words to live by. However, I do not want to be the person my dog thinks I am; I want to be the person that my dog already is.

Dogs are truly magnificent creatures that possess all the virtues that are valued in human beings. These pets are a lot more intelligent than people give them credit for. A dog’s wisdom is shared through its ability to be trustworthy, devoted, loyal, compassionate, forgiving, and most of all, happy. In fact, canines know the ultimate secret to being happy, and that is to love and be loved. Josh Billings, a famous humor writer and lecturer, once said, “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”

Devotion is a never-ending act of love. Last summer, I had to have my tonsils removed. After surgery, I was in so much pain and agony that my entire body ached. I slept for hours and hours, waking every half hour or so. To my amazement, every hour upon hour, I would wake up to my small-breed puppy lying next to me near my face. Prissy, a beautiful, tan and white Shih-Tzu, would gently nuzzle her cold nose into the side of my neck as I awoke from my frequent naps to let me know she was willing to help. The concern on her face as she huffed a piece of hair out of her big, brown eyes was more than enough to comfort me. She seemed as though she understood what I was going through and just wanted to be there for me, and she was. My dog never left my side for the next week; if I ate, she ate with me, if I slept, she slept next to me. I want to be able to be that devoted to someone, so selfless, so loyal, so compassionate.

Whether I had a bad day at school, lost an important softball game, failed a test, had relationship problems, or even if nothing seemed to be going my way, it was my dog that consoled me. In these times of need, my sweet puppy would just crawl unto my lap, look up to me with a slight tilt of her head and those heart-warming eyes. She always listened to everything I had to say without interrupting me; I never felt judged in her presence. Above all, I knew my secrets were safe; she was so trustworthy.

Among admired qualities, forgiveness is the hardest to grasp. When Prissy was a puppy, I remember yelling at her for the smallest things: peeing on the carpet, scratching at the door, or even jumping into mud puddles. No matter what was said or done, she loved and forgave me. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong,” Mahatma Gandhi once said. If this is so, dogs are the strongest creatures that live today.

It’s funny to think that we can learn so much from our four-legged, furry friends. We can take what we know and use it to make ourselves better; dogs make us better people. After all, it was Plato who once said, “A dog has the soul of a philosopher.”