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<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0An Irresistible face<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Tap. Tap. Tap.\u00a0<\/em>I wake each morning to paws gently tapping my shoulder. I roll over and Dash the Wonder Dog’s face is one inch from mine, <\/strong>with an expectant look on his face.\u00a0 I roll over and obediently scratch his ears.\u00a0 He has me well trained.\u00a0 I bid him a good morning and ask how his sleep was.\u00a0 He response is 100 kisses – just to make sure I’m awake and to alert me that he’s ready to start his day.\u00a0 This is his morning routine, and whether I have had 8 hours or 8 minutes of sleep, it never varies.\u00a0 On the mornings when my sleep has been closer to 8 minutes, I wonder why I have let this dog take over my life<\/strong>.\u00a0 I resent, just for a moment, that once I have let him out to sniff and pee, he curls up on the sofa, rests his head on his soft blanket, and falls blissfully back to sleep.\u00a0 I, on the other hand, put extra coffee in the pot.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Dash – 2nd from left<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Ten years ago, on November 16, 2012, I received a message from Dash’s breeder that he and his four brothers had been born.\u00a0 She sent me a photo of them, snuggled up together<\/strong>, looking a bit like tiny guinea pigs.\u00a0 I didn’t yet know which one would come home with me, but it didn’t matter – I loved them all instantly.\u00a0 I had waited a long time to own another dog and pledged that this dog would be special.\u00a0 Little did I know I really had no choice in the matter.\u00a0 Dogs have a way of wriggling into your heart<\/strong> and staking their claim on your soul.\u00a0 In January 2013, I drove to the breeder’s home to select which dog would be mine.\u00a0 Of course, what really happened is Dash chose me.\u00a0 As I stood in the backyard, with dogs and puppies romping and vying for attention, Dash came up and scratched on my pant leg.\u00a0 I picked him up, he gave me a lick, and I was done.\u00a0 Dash was my dog, and I was his person.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do dogs do on their day off? Can\u2019t lie around \u2013 that\u2019s their job.\u201d \u2013 George Carlin<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Dash’s first day home<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n We brought him home on February 3, 2013. I vowed early on that I wasn’t going to be a sap<\/strong> about this dog.\u00a0 Who was I kidding? I was a sap by the time we backed out of the breeder’s driveway. From that first day, Dash has lived up to the nickname for Cavaliers – he is a “comfort spaniel”. No matter how bad a day we might have had, it is impossible to remain sad or depressed when greeted at the door by his wagging tail and twirling body<\/strong>. My husband and I vie over who gets to sit next to him on the couch.\u00a0 Dash doesn’t care, he is an equal opportunity snuggler.\u00a0 He plasters himself next to us and miraculously transforms into a 1,000 lb. dog – absolutely immovable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe average dog is a nicer person than the average person.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Andy Rooney<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Dash visiting a WWII hero<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n We acknowledge that over the past ten years he has put a crimp in our social life.<\/strong> Spending an evening with Dash, vs dinner with someone blathering on about their hook shot on the 10th hole, is not even a fair fight.\u00a0 Our friends tease us that they have met the “Dash bar” when we go out rather than stay home.\u00a0 But we are not the only ones who are smitten by him. He has put smiles on faces wherever he goes, especially when he worked at the Vi Care Center, bringing some sunshine<\/strong> to people who didn’t see much of it.\u00a0 We have taken him everywhere we traveled, and as luck would have it, he loves car rides.\u00a0 He doesn’t really care where we go, as long as he is with us.\u00a0 He is the reason we have met people from all parts of the world, who engage us in just enough conversation to justify their real reason<\/strong> for stopping – to pet Dash. He made friends with a little girl from England in Squaw Valley, and he snookered the people in the gift shop in Sun Valley to give him treats every time he passed by.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 My sweet boy<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n When we first brought Dash home, I told my husband that I’d be happy if he lived ten years.\u00a0 After all, most Cavaliers suffer from mitral valve disease<\/strong>, so their lifespan can be shorter.\u00a0 Two years ago, Dash was diagnosed with it.\u00a0 He is on medication and so far, it seems to be keeping the disease at bay.\u00a0 He still loves to play fetch every night.\u00a0 Mostly I do the fetching, as he manages to put his toy exactly one foot beyond my reach<\/strong>.\u00a0 I can almost see him laugh as I heft myself off the couch to retrieve it.\u00a0 He would do this for an hour, but oftentimes my knees give out before he does.<\/p>\n His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me… whenever… wherever\u2014in case I need him. And I expect I will\u2014as I always have.\u00a0 Gene Hill<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Dash the Wonder Dog at 10<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n And now that he is 10, of course I want more time.\u00a0 I want more snuggles and kisses<\/strong>, more twirls when I get home, more waking in the night to his chainsaw-like snoring.\u00a0 I dread the day when I won’t wake to the tap, tap, tap<\/em> on my shoulder.\u00a0 But for now, we’re taking it a day at a time, and enjoying each day to the fullest. At night, before we tuck in, I set Dash up on the bed and review our day<\/strong> – where we went (nowhere), what we did (nap and eat) and any special people we might have seen (the crazy dog down the street).\u00a0 And then I tell him how much he is loved.\u00a0 I bury my face in the scruff of his neck and tell him what a good boy he is and how blessed we are to have him in our lives.<\/p>\n I’ve done nothing to deserve this sweet, gentle boy, and yet he chose to grace me with his presence.\u00a0 For that, I am the luckiest person on earth. Happy 10th birthday to my most cherished companion!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson “Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, filling an empty space we don’t even know we have.”\u00a0 Thom Jones Tap. Tap. Tap.\u00a0I wake each morning to paws gently tapping my shoulder. I … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Raes-five-boys-small-300x200.jpg\")
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