Kumbaya

Well, this is not exactly lions and lambs lying together, but it is "showing a lotta' love."  Murphy is that way.  She lets Sage lay all over her.  I'm convinced Sage even plumps up Murphy like a pillow!  And I am even more convinced if they could speak they would hold paws and break out into a round of Kumbaya after a round of "let me bug you, Murphy."

Dog whisperers, you know, people who really know how to work with dogs, will tell you that to change a dogs behavior, you need to also change yours.  I think about that all the time, now days, as Murphy is older and much more vocal about her life.  She barks about many things.  Wanting to go out, wanting to come in, wanting her toast, wanting to go upstairs, no downstairs, no back upstairs.   She is, I feel, struggling with how her body is changing, how her legs don't work like they used to, how she wants different things to eat than what she did even 6 months ago.  I could get frustrated by her barking, by her demands.  Or I could look at myself.  How can I help her ease into this time with dignity and grace?

I think it is hard for us, to deal with change with dignity and grace.  I know I get short tempered and cranky when my routine is upset, or life does not stay on the rhythms and pathways I enjoy.  Now, with Murphy, trying to understand her needs, what will make her happy and comfortable, it's sometimes hard.  Her restlessness rattles my quiet, serene, cocoon.  But then, she comes over to my desk, nuzzles my hand, looks at me with her big eyes, and I scroll through thousands of memories.  Fourteen years of times when she has adjusted to my schedules, my demands, my needs.  These are her days, now.  The few minutes it takes me to walk upstairs, then downstairs, then outside, then back inside, with her, are miniscule compared to the countless minutes, days, weeks, months, years she has accommodated me.  

Of course, it has been said many many times by people far wiser than I, that we can learn a lot from our dogs.  But when I see Murphy and Sage, wrapped up together, I do think the dog-is-our-life-philosophers are onto something.    How about a round of Kumbaya?  

Murphy's day.