Why Do We Do It To Ourselves?

I know I know—- there have been two other columns about my dog but this one’s from me. Wait a minute……..

As you may or may not know, our Beagle, Oscar, died last week. He had been sick so it was a blessing. Knowing that though doesn’t make it any easier.

Why do we do this to ourselves? I mean, why do we pet owners who go through this pain of losing a beloved pet …… go out and then get another one and go through it again? I remember one of our pets dying and my wife said, “I’ll never do this again. I can’t take it!” Six months later, there we were! I think it was when we got our golden.

I think the reason we put ourselves through it is the wonderful unconditional love they give us. No matter what we do or how many times we seem to screw things up …. there they are! Wagging their tails; happy to see us. It’s someone to hold when we’re at our lowest. Someone to jump up and down and dance with us when we’re happy!

Oscar, and Baxter, were both with me through the days and weeks of rehab and they let me pet them at night when I couldn’t sleep. They probably just wanted to go back to sleep themselves but didn’t seem to complain.

Josh Billings wrote: “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” Isn’t that true?

I think of Oscar at the strangest times. I was cooking the other night when I got some of the spices on the floor. No one came to lick that up. Baxter, our Golden, isn’t a fan of spices but Oscar would get it almost the same time it hit the floor.

Later I was loading the dishwasher and there was no need to rush. No one was coming to lick the plates or lick the silverware so aggressively that it fell out.

Yeah I miss the little guy. He knew all my deep dark secrets. Could’ve ratted me out a few times but always had my back.

We’ll probably have more dogs in the future, but each one has a place in our hearts. We look back and laugh focusing on the good days and trying to forget the sickness and the bad days.

We still feel the love they had for us and if we close our eyes….as we approach the door while returning home…we can hear that beagle howl….and see him in the window. Waiting to jump up…and then get a cookie.