My best pal galumphed into my life when I was five. He was black with a small patch of white on his chest and the tips of his humongous paws. Pepe was my best friend until I was 17. I whispered all of my sorrows to him as he leaned against me and licked away my tears.
There are times when
only a dog will do
For a friend… when
you're beaten sick and blue
And the world's all
wrong, for he won't care
If you break and
cry, or grouch and swear,
For he'll let you
know as he licks your hands
That he's downright
sorry … and understands.
~Vagabond's House; Don Blanding
My pal Pepe was eager to please, and balanced precariously atop his doghouse on command, or caught a ball and tossed it back. I loved to tease him, to "catch" his front paws, and he did his best to pull them out of the way. When he was really excited, he'd dance - all four paws going to beat the band. He had a short tail, and he didn't wag it so much as twirl it in a circle.
In the whole history
of the world there is but one thing that money can not buy -
to wit, the wag of
a dog's tail. ~ Henry Wheeler Shaw.
He was so smart. If I wanted to go uptown to do a bit of shopping, I took Pepe along for company. He'd wait outside the store till I was finished, then dance to greet me as if to say, "You've been gone SO long!" Sometimes, I wanted to shop for a longer time, so I'd say, "Pepe, go HOME." He'd look at me sadly, hesitating... thinking he might be in trouble, and did I really mean that I wanted him to leave me? Sternly, I'd command, "Go Home!" He'd slowly turn, and walk away, looking back in case I'd change my mind.
He was always waiting on the porch when I got home.
Give the boy a dog
and you've furnished him a playmate
Always true and
faithful as can be. A Gift. By Berton
Braley
When he died, I grieved for weeks and weeks. I still hope there will be dogs in heaven, so I can be reunited with Pepe. Like the Indian in Alexander Pope's Essay on Man, I want a companion dog for all of eternity.
But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company.
Alexander Pope 1688
- 1744
Essay on Man. Epistle 1 Line 111
John Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is replete with quotes about dogs. Since creation, dogs have been man's best friend. If you're a dog person, you'll understand this:
Love me, love my
dog. ~John Heywood
Latin version: Qui me amat, amet et
canem meum.
(Who loves me will love my
dog also.) Sermo Primus
The dogs in my life right now include Hunny, a tiny Cairn/Jack Russell cross with a huge heart and a lot of enthusiasm. Hunny just loves life! Everything makes her happy.
I had a little dog
and my dog was very small;
He licked me in the
face, and he answered to my call;
Of all he treasures
that were mine I loved him most of all.
~ Frances Cornford, A Child's Dream
The second one is Kaia, a Kuvasz. She is big, and white, and hairy, and she's always at my feet. Even now, as I type this, my toes are warmed by her tummy as she lies underneath my desk. She smells faintly of "Eau de Moufette", as she was sprayed by a skunk last night when she fearlessly protected our hens and horse from the intruder.
The poor dog, in
life the firmest friend,
The first to
welcome, foremost to defend.
~George Noel Gordon, Lord Byron
I was in a wheelchair a couple of years ago (three broken metatarsal bones in my foot), and this dog knew I was in pain. She hardly left my side, and worried that I might fall again. Of course, she didn't express this in English, but her big brown eyes and tail waving slightly let me know of her concern.
The one absolutely
unselfish friend that man can have in
this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves
ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. A
man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in
sickness.
~George Graham Vest,
1830 - 1904, Eulogy on the Dog
My only regret about being a dog-lover is that they never live long enough. We had a dog named Abraham, who lived to the ripe old age of 15.5, but died too soon.
Stephen Foster understood the joy of having an old dog as a friend:
When thoughts recall
the past,
His eyes on me are
cast;
I know that he feels
what my breaking heart would say;
Although he cannot
speak,
I'll vainly, vainly
seek
A better friend than
old dog Tray. Stephen Foster.
I expect I'll always have a dog. If I live long enough to say good-bye to Hunny and Kaia, there'll be another one, different to be sure, but welcomed heartily and loved much.
Be with me Beauty
for the fire is dying,
My dog and I are
old, too old for roving…
~on Growing Old ; John Masefield Sonnet 1
If I ever end up without a dog for a season, this will echo my sentiments:
I have no dog, but
it must be
Somewhere there's
one belongs to me -
A little chap with
wagging tail,
And dark brown eyes
that never quail.
My dog, Stanza 1 by
John Kendrick Bangs 1862-1922
Finally, this:
Recollect that the
Almighty, who gave the dog to be companion of our pleasures and our toils, hath
invested him with a nature noble and incapable of deceit. ~Sir Walter Scott, 1771 - 1832
How about you? Are you a dog lover? Do you have a companion who wags his tail in circles and does a little happy dance whenever you get home? Have you had dogs all of your life?
How about you? Are you a dog lover? Do you have a companion who wags his tail in circles and does a little happy dance whenever you get home? Have you had dogs all of your life?
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