Saturday, December 20, 2014

Our gift to our furry friends


So I am in the process of training a Golden Retriever to be a service dog for a 15 year old boy I know. I am so grateful to be given this wonderful opportunity to give the puppy the wonderful gift of a job, and for the wonderful boy, this wonderful companion who will hereafter be a wonderful help to him.  I stumbled across this poem while looking up things about service dogs and I felt I had to share, I want to make this my theme.  Enjoy.

"Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.
Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I might lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me learn.
Speak to me often, for your voice is the world’s sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when the sound of your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.
Please take  me inside when it is cold and wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to bitter elements. I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth.
Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.
Feed me clean food that I might stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.
And, my friend, when I am very old, and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having any fun.
Please see that my trusting life is taken gently so I may leave this Earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your hands."
Our thanks to the Author — Beth Norman Harris
- See more at: http://www.rileysplace.org/dogblog/a-dogs-plea/#sthash.twTK379r.dpuf