I’ve
known Daisy for five years, and she has taught me lessons about loyalty,
happiness, friendship and love that I’ll never forget.
Daisy
is a wonderful companion. She never complains about what is being served for
dinner, she’s never forced me to go to the fabric store or sit through the movie Pride
and Prejudice (these are my kryptonite).
Instead,
she’ll happily sit beside me as I binge watch Netflix or cheer on my team in a
football game, and she’s never asked me if I thought she looked fat.
Daisy
is my best friend and she’s never said a word to me, because Daisy is a golden
retriever.
Earlier
this year a class of fourth graders at Daybreak Elementary
crafted
a bill to make the golden retriever the beehive state’s domestic animal.
Why was the bill shot down?
What
is it that makes a dog man’s best friend?
What lessons can we learn from our four-legged
friends?
Whenever
I walk through the front door I’m always greeted by a whine. Then a blur of
golden fur, (that coats my living room and cloths- don’t get me started) as my
dog runs circles around me and leans up against me putting all of her weight on
my legs and her soft-spoken gentle eyes that can only be described as kind,
look up at me.
My dog is just happy to see me. It
doesn’t matter if I have been gone for five seconds, or five hours I’m always greeted
warmly. I can’t recall a time when my dog wasn’t pleased to see me.
Unlike
my dog, I can’t say I’ve always been pleased to see people at my door, like the
pushy salesman or shady looking people who’ve come to buy an item I had
apparently placed on ksl.com when I have no memory of ever posting such a thing
(thanks for the practical joke my brother’s friends).
Dogs aren’t as picky when choosing
their friends.
We’ve
all had our bad days when the car won’t start, the bills pile up, we argue with
our families and to top it all, we’re frustrated because the Utah Jazz, once
again, have had a mediocre season with a below .500 record (we are told once
again, “oh well, there’s always next year.”).
But dogs don’t have bad days and
they don’t hold grudges. Dogs find joy in the simple things in life.
Whenever
I grab the mail key Daisy will bound to the front door tail waging and a big doggish
smile forming on her face, because she simply, loves going to get the mail.
She loves going for walks, running
at the park, sitting next to me while I read or just being in the same room as
the family.
There
are times in my church (and I’m sure yours too, don’t deny it) when the service
sign up sheets make it around the room with hardly a name on them.
Dogs
can teach us about self-less service.
The
organization
"Canines
with a Cause" rescues dogs from kill shelters and trains them to
become service animals for veterans suffering from PTSD.
After
they’re trained the dogs are paired with a veteran depending on the individuals
needs as far as temperament, personality, size and other factors.
Program director
Cathy King said, “We’re kind of like a dating service between people and dogs
getting them setup with their perfect match.”
Webster’s
Dictionary defines loyal as, “having or showing complete and constant support
for someone or something.”
Relationships
come and go, friends drift further apart through the years (though we still
insist at seeing what our friends from high school are up to ten plus years
later via Facebook), but it’s comforting to know man’s best friend is there
showing us complete and constant support.
These
friendly, loyal, caring companions may never say a word to us, but actions speak
louder than words and we can all learn something from them.
