![\"Dash,](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Dash-sleeping.jpg\")
<\/a>Dash, working hard<\/p><\/div>\n
This is a special day in our house – Dash the Wonder Dog<\/strong> was born\u00a0three years ago today.\u00a0 It seems like just yesterday that we brought him home…and that we had a life.\u00a0 Since he adopted us our\u00a0every waking moment has been devoted to his care<\/strong>, feeding and entertainment.\u00a0 As you can see from the picture (left) his job is to lie contentedly on the couch\u00a0and be cute; our job is to fawn over him.\u00a0 My husband, who was adamantly\u00a0against getting a dog for the past 25 years, will now not leave Dash alone for more than four hours at a time.\u00a0 Golf games have been sacrificed\u00a0so he can stay home with the dog.\u00a0He makes me feel like I am Joan Crawford<\/strong> if I schedule activities that take me away during the day AND at night.\u00a0 Next he’ll be accusing me of using wire coat hangers.\u00a0\u00a0Truth be told, it’s been a great three years and as I reflect on\u00a0 what we’ve learned from dog ownership it boils down to a few good lessons.<\/p>\n The sniff test<\/p><\/div>\n First\u00a0 – we humans could learn a lot from dogs about assessing new people<\/strong>.\u00a0 We usually utter something like “the jury is still out” when asked about someone recently met.\u00a0 We pause, we take our time in forming an opinion, we seek advice from others.\u00a0 Dogs, on the other hand, get right to the heart of it. They sniff butts<\/strong>.\u00a0 One good whiff can tell them if the new acquaintance is friendly, sociable and what they had for dinner last Tuesday.\u00a0 They make instant judgements that I’m fairly certain are right on the money.\u00a0 The scene at our local dog park is like watching speed dating – one good sniff and the dogs either form a friendship or move on.\u00a0 I’m certainly not suggesting that we sniff butts, although it might be as illuminating a way to pick a President<\/strong> as our current debate system.\u00a0 But I do think that dogs are on to something – we should trust our initial impressions.\u00a0 Usually our gut is a pretty good predictor of who we might want to be friends with and who is to be avoided like Louisiana in July.<\/p>\n Elizabeth Brown and Dash<\/p><\/div>\n Second – we have been amazed by the people we have met<\/strong> just because we have a dog.\u00a0\u00a0Every time we take Dash out, which is often, people stop to pet him and talk with us.\u00a0 In fact my test for whether I would want someone as my friend is not the sniff test but whether they smile when they see Dash.\u00a0 People who walk right by or who, worse yet, go out of their way to avoid him, would definitely not make my Christmas card list<\/strong>. But other dog owners in particular do stop\u00a0and while the dogs are sniffing, we generally have some short conversation about how great our dogs are.\u00a0 We commented last month after one such encounter up in Mammoth Lakes that we have met so many nice people because of Dash.\u00a0 And even though some of the conversations are very short, the cumulative effect is that our lives are happier<\/strong> because of them.\u00a0 One that particularly stands out is\u00a0Elizabeth Brown, who we met in Tahoe two years ago.\u00a0 She was visiting from England with her parents and grandmother.\u00a0 She was bored to tears (as she told us) until she saw Dash.\u00a0 She was so excited to hold him that she asked if she could have her picture taken.\u00a0 We made sure she asked her parents for permission since we didn’t want to end up on the Sexual Predator list in our neighborhood, and once that was granted we snapped the picture (above).\u00a0 I know that Dash made her trip more enjoyable<\/strong> and to this day we smile when we see the photo.\u00a0 We can thank Dash for hundreds of small meetings that have truly enriched our lives.<\/p>\n A true friend<\/p><\/div>\n Finally, I harken back to a phrase that I heard 30 years ago when I had a cute little mutt – “Lord, let me be the person\u00a0my dog thinks I am.” It goes without saying –\u00a0and every dog owner knows this –\u00a0that there is nothing like the unconditional love of a dog<\/strong>.\u00a0 Really, most of the time I don’t deserve the excitement Dash expends when I walk into the room.\u00a0We all could probably take note from canine behavior – always happy, intuitive to every emotion, kisses on command, and loyalty.\u00a0 The other day I was in our local pet shop and they had a new supply of the Life is Good tee shirts – the ones with cute dogs and great slogans.\u00a0 My favorite was “Be Your Dog”<\/strong>.\u00a0 There’s not a chance I can be that good, but\u00a0surely it’s\u00a0a worthy goal.<\/p>\n Since this is my last post before Thanksgiving I’d like to take a moment to thank all of our subscribers and wish each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.\u00a0 We truly appreciate your continued support of our weekly attempts to entertain.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson This is a special day in our house – Dash the Wonder Dog was born\u00a0three years ago today.\u00a0 It seems like just yesterday that we brought him home…and that we had a life.\u00a0 Since he adopted … read more<\/a><\/a><\/a>