poem5b

MY DOG AND ME

A sloppy kiss, a cold, wet nose
just landed on my face.
Can I ignore this wonder
for one more hour of sleep?
.
"Wake up, wake up", they're telling me,
"a new day has just dawned.
There are toys to chase, walks to take,
fun to share all day long."

Just one look in his wonderful face,
with eyes so full of love,
tells me it's time to rise and shine . . .
a new day has begun.

The time we spend together,
both learning as we go,
compares to nothing else on earth . . .
bonds each to the other's soul.

I often wonder where I'd be,
what would my life be like,
if I hadn't stopped at the shelter that day
to save him from his plight.

Susan Giufre, 2000

I DON'T UNDERSTAND

I don't understand how they could have forgotten. Forgotten that I am a noble animal, descended from the first wolf that made a pact with man thousands of years ago. We have since freely lived with and helped man with
any endeavor he has asked of us.

In the beginning we helped him hunt and protected him at night. We would search out game and help him catch it then gladly accept the scraps. We have gone into burrows and fought tenacious animals with razor teeth
because he asked us to.

We helped him domesticate and herd other animals so that he would not have to work so hard at hunting. Alert and vigilant always we protect the herd from predators and keep it calm and safe during storms and blizzards, while he is warm and sleeping in his home. And no matter how hungry we get we would never touch our charges, for he has entrusted us with them.

We have used our keen sense of smell to help him find his lost friends and children. We have gone into disasters where it was dangerous to go because we were the only ones capable of finding the people buried there in time to save them. We have searched out drugs, explosives, and contraband for hours at a time and only asked for some attention in return.

We have learned to assist humans that can not do everything for themselves. We will guide with the utmost care those who do not see, we open doors, turn on lights, pick things up for people that can't. We alert people that can't hear to the sounds around them. At times we work for days on end without time to just be a dog but we never complain because we know we are helping.

We bring joy to those in hospitals and retirement homes when we visit. Even when we have tired we will continue on because we know the joy and comfort we bring to these people.

We learn all types of commands so that we can attend shows and demonstrate the skills we have learned. We do obedience trials, agility matches, schutzhund, and conformation shows. We willingly put up with hours of
training and grooming even enduring haircuts that are less than dignified, all to please him.

We have died for him, protecting his home, protecting his community, and fighting his wars. We have even died
fighting our own kind because he wanted us to. We having willingly done this because he is our master and we have put our trust in him.

Now as I sit here in this cage, with hundreds of others, facing death, I try to understand. I had a home with a
family, but they say I grew too big and shed too much. They said I was too hyper and played too rough. They have forgotten that we protected them from the dark when they were frightened, that we caught food for them when they were hungry, that we adapted to any thing they wanted of us to help them and have them keep us in their hearts. No one ever showed me what they wanted of me or I would have tried with all my heart to please them, to adapt to that which they needed, for I did not want to be one of the thousands and thousands of dogs who are not wanted and have no place to go and passively go to be put to death because the master has forgotten, forgotten that we are noble animals. I don't understand..........

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