BEAUTY ALL AROUND - AND STILL A HEAVY HEART

I took my guys down to the ruins today for a run. They have been cooped up for an entire week and needed the exercise. They got it too. I wanted to read a new book I bought written by Cesar Millan called "Be The Pack Leader." I am trying to understand and use his processes of dog control with my dear friends. His methods are unique. The concept he uses is Calm Assertive Energy. Dogs, and animals in general, tune in to this invisable energy and react to it. I just completed another book named "Rescuing Sprite", written by Mark R. Levin. It is a story of a dog taken out of a shelter by a loving family and the short life it lived while in the care of the Levin family. A series of illnesses plagued the little guy and his life was cut short. The story portrays the anguish and yes, the happiness, that Sprite brought to the Levin family. It is a touching story. No, it is a painful story to read. Yet, it is a beautiful story. It took me a long time to read through that short book. Tears constantly ran down my cheeks. My dog's gathered together and constantly, quietly watched me until I put that book away. Were they reading my energy? More than anything, it is a story with an ending that projects the future of all dog owners. It makes me especially happy and proud that I have the little guys that surround me here today. Yet it makes me very afraid. The time will come for each of them when I, their trusted keeper, must help them on each of their final journies alone and without me. This all comes after I received a message that a friend, who is the owner of a beautiful Italian Greyhound named Bandit was faced with the decision to help her little friend find peace. Bandit was very, very old and could no longer do anything for himself. His life had become miserable. His loving keeper had to make that horrible decision that all dog lovers hate to even contemplate. Bandit is now taking his final journey alone. The message about my friend, the book Rescuing Sprite, and the beauty of my little friends here about me on this gorgeous hillside have instilled a feeling inside me that I can't quite put my finger on. I am a rational person and fairly down to earth. But I am moved internally and mentally by the perfection of what we call dogs. They are inspirational. They live for the moment in total innocence. And their lives are so very short. It isn't fair. And those that love them so much all their lives must be the ones to send them on their final walk into the unknown alone. The one thing about the day that is pleasant are the beautiful surroundings here on this little spot. The tree that Douglas chased the squirrel up is in full color. There are colorful leaves upon the ground and the air has a clean fragrance. I always want to remember my guys in this environment. I've often heard it said that the country has gone to the dog's. Ha---We should be so lucky!