Lessons from pets

Sometimes when I examine a dog at work the client says something like this, “I’m spending more money on my dog than I do on my kids!” I usually respond by saying, “yeah but this dog will never talk back to you or break your heart”.

I have watched Julie over the years with our pets. Our dogs and cats love her. They want to be in whatever room she is in. They want to sit on the couch by her. She talks to them and they listen. She can read their expressions and know what they want. It’s always very emotional for both of us when their health deteriorates so much that we have to put one of them to “sleep”. When our Sheltie “Suzy” had to be put to sleep for lung cancer, Julie asked me to bring the shot home because Suzy gets nervous up at the clinic. Julie held Suzy in her arms at home while I administered the euthanasia solution, she died very peacefully. We both cried.

What makes people love their pets so much? And is there anything we husbands can learn from that?

People love their pets because no matter how horrible of a mood we might be in… they are still happy to see us. Sometimes I go into an exam room where there is a lab puppy who is jumping up and down and wanting to lick me and just sooo happy… I tell the client… “this is how my wife acts when I get home from work every day”. Imagine if that were true .

People love their pets because their pets want to be with them. You husbands think about this… your wife needs you to be with her. It might mean you have to sacrifice some of your precious time… just to be with her. Maybe just watching some dumb movie with her. No one needs that lesson more than I do.

People love their pets because their pets think they are the greatest people in the world. It’s easy to tell your wife that you love her, but those are empty words if she can’t see it in your actions. Convince her with your actions that no one on earth is more important than she is.

I wish every one of you could have a loving pet and experience them from puppyhood to old age and failing health. They can teach you a lot about the shortness of life and how to care for each other.