The Angel and the 'Beast'

I read this quote some time ago and today it came to mind when I lost a little angel – “Every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them, and every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are”.

The quote does not make much sense to me as having a dog, losing a dog, having another and so on, for me it means being good, being happy and sharing the happiness with my best friend for as long as he lives. Can you be more human then that?

I guess not.. still – after today my fear is, if every dog I loose takes a piece of my heart, will I not be heartless at some point?

You will all say, that another dog will come around, that a new dog will share with me a piece of his heart, but I am sure we are all lying. We are lying ourselves, to keep us going.

No dog will ever match the piece of the heart another dog stole. No dog will ever be able to bring the exact same type of happiness and joy like the one before.

Each dog – will have his own flaws, his own way of wagging his tail, of greeting you, of saying thank you. Each dog will teach us something that the one before could not. Each dog will be his own version and will never measure the one that was lost.

So in the end .. how do we avoid losing ourselves in pain, suffering and frustration.

I tell you how.. we keep going. We either keep lying to ourselves or we simply recognize that losing a dog will tear us to pieces, but having the courage to get another dog after, will only mend the heart and give it reason.

A new dog does not replace another, but will for sure keep your mind from wondering in pain.

So if you lost a dog, think about it… go to the local shelter where more then one dogs had their hearts broken by a human, and together you can start healing.

This is pretty much what I did today…. We lost a little angel that was not ours, but was in the same shelter where our dogs are. I tried to save him, to give him comfort, but in the end in my mind I asked the little guy to make a choice.. and he did … he left…

An hour later… I was entering the vet with a beautiful, but scared Romanian Shepard who was cleaned up, dewormed, fed and soon neutered and ready for his new life.

A life that promised him a big yard, friends to play with and lots of reasons to wag that tail around.