“I’m Still Your Dog” poem

Posted by Barbara Techel

This poem is so fitting for animals with disabilities or elderly animals.  I've had this for quite sometime, but don't  think I've ever posted it.  Even if I have in the past, I feel it is so worth sharing again.

I'm Still Your Dog

Because I'm "just a dog" you see, I don't sigh and say, "why me?"  I just face it- go on livin' and play the hand that I've been given.

I need you more now, that is true, for there are things I just can't do.  The ball you throw I can't catch- I can't even lift my leg to scratch.

It's embarrassing a little- that I may need your help to piddle.  But if our roles they were reverse, I'd be proud to be your nurse.

But hey, I love you more than ever.  Me, give up?  Well yeah, like never.  I don't regret what cannot be- with you my friend, I'll just me me! 

I'm still me within my soul where it counts, I still am whole.  My back is bent and I'm quite lame, but in my heart I'm still the same.

by Julie Wrigley Smith

I am especially touched by the last line that even though an animal may be lame, their heart IS still the same.  Frankie demonstrates that to me each and every day… what a blessing our animals are!

The Intricate Bond Between People & Dogs

Posted by Barbara Techel

I love quotes.  I have a journal with "regular" quotes and one with animal quotes.  So today as I looked for a quote to share on my facebook wall, I came across one of my favorite's by Author Caroline Knapp.

"Dogs possess a quality that's rare among humans- the ability to make you feel valued just by being you."

This was in Caroline's book called, Pack of Two which was about her relationship with her dog Lucille.   Caroline died in 2002 at the age of 43. and when I was reading the book a few years ago and then realized she had died, I was sad quite.  But I was so glad she wrote this book, because it was one of my favorite.

Here is a review from Amazon about the book published in 1999:

Caroline Knapp is head over heels in love–not with a human being, but with her mixed-breed dog, Lucille. From the moment Lucille first locked eyes with Knapp through the bars of an animal shelter cage, the intelligent, pointy-eared mutt began to transform Knapp's life. Reeling from the deaths of both her parents, a breakup with a long-term boyfriend, and her newly won sobriety after a 20-year battle with the bottle (which was skillfully chronicled in a previous memoir, Drinking: A Love Story), Knapp found in Lucille not only companionship, but "consistency, continuity, connection. In a word, love." Although she doesn't regard Lucille as a replacement for alcohol and lost loved ones, Knapp does believe "that in loving her I have had that sense of being filled anew and essentially redirected, an old identity shattered and a new one emerging in its stead." In Pack of Two Knapp, with the help of dog psychiatrists, trainers, breeders, and owners, explores the partnership between human and dog and the mysteries of the canine mind–how dogs love, how they think, and how they see human beings. And despite her findings that the dog will remain essentially "mysterious … unknowable," Knapp is ultimately at peace with this, still devouring the moments when dog and human can "transcend the language barrier" to "understand what the other wants and feels." This book pays homage to the wonderful and complex relationship between one woman and her dog. –Naomi Gesinger

Animal Blessing

Posted by Barbara Techel

I subscribe to Daily Word and it always seems to be right on for me when I read it each morning.  I love starting my day by reading my daily inspiration.  Today’s entry was so great that I wanted to share it!

Animal Blessing

I celebrate life in all it’s expressions.

The words of a favorite hymn remind me to behold the wonder of animals as they contribute to wisdom and balance in the world:  “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful:  the Lord God made them all.”

Watching the antics of a frisky kitten or a rambunctious puppy, I am reminded to play and enjoy myself.  Seeing a dog visit patients at a health care facility reminds me to affirm healing by my very presence.  A service animal guiding a sight-impaired individual shows me the value of helping others.

I appreciate and bless all animals by celebrating the sacredness of life in all its diverse expressions.

God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind… And God saw that it was good. -Genesis 1:25

Frankie below at a nursing home visit this summer.  Some of my most peaceful and thankful moments is when I share Frankie with the elderly.