We Are Soooooooooooo Blessed By Our Dogs!!!

I can remember having A dog (singular) from some of my first childhood memories. A beagle or beagle cross as it were, and her name was Flicka. It always had a calming effect on me when I was tied out with her as a toddler ( Yes I WAS tied out with a harness and rope, circa 1954-56) As I grew older into adolescence, there always seemed to be a dog in the house. Never more than one mind you but pretty consistently we had a dog in our home as I remember it.

Did that shape and mold me into the mega dog lover that I am today? Not entirely, but it did get me headed down the path and opened my mind to the possibility of having more than just one dog, much more than that as it turned out. First you have to realize who I married 18 years ago.

In my first marriage, I did pretty much what I experienced as a child – we had A dog and only one dog. The we had some cats, and then litters of kittens and of course lots of cat litter!! Somehow the dog, singular, got replaced by multiple cats!

Enter my 16 year old daughter who begged and begged and begged to get her a dog for her birthday. She wore me down and we went to look at some dogs, picking pretty much the first one we saw, an adorable American Eskimo puppy. There was a sad story and so we felt kind of obligated to help her ( the dog ) and the kind woman who rescued the litter. In hindsight I will never be able to tell my daughter what a Godsend that dog was – But she already knows because she witnessed the whole epic events that followed the arrival of “Kisses” the American Eskimo.

Fast forward 3 years and I am separated from that marriage, leaving with much to my possession, the most valuable (priceless) of which was my bestie, Kisses. In the next 12 months I would meet my 2nd wife. At the time of our introduction, she had 6 dogs, 2 horses, 1 cat and a grooming shop. Oh, lets not forget a 7 year old son too. The son, Zachary, was a huge animal lover (big surprise) maybe bigger than his mother.

What a huge transition it was to get immersed into a lifestyle that literally revolved around dogs pretty much 7×24. I learned to love it as well as each dog seemed to bring something unique to the table. Sort of like the 7 dwarfs. They all looked like dogs (dwarfs) and acted like dogs (dwarfs) but each one had a different talent or attribute that made them unique. It was a paradigm shift in lifestyle and a great new perspective on my life as well. Not to mention timed perfectly, all things considered.

What I learned very quickly was to connect on all 4 legs to my canine counterparts. That is, come to their level in all things play, love, hugs and teaching/learning. Yes learning. I learned a lot from all of those dogs around me. You all pretty much know the things I am talking about too – if you weren’t a real dog person you would have never made it this far into the story. Things like unconditional love, patience, and happiness to the degree your body shakes! Spirituality, connectedness with a single dog and the pack. It goes on and on doesn’t it?

Linda introduced me pretty quickly to the world of competitive dog grooming. Seems that she has some great talent and it was recognized by many when she got a Silver Medal at the World Competition in New York City 3 years after she graduated from Pedigree Grooming Academy in Boston. I have been with her 20 years now and have gone to this Competition and Trade Show 18 times – next month will make 19. Several years ago they put us on the staff because, well, we always came and we knew what we were doing there. It is a great time and a huge learning and networking event that I look forward to attending every year.

But back to our special little place on the planet, Dream About Farm. In his book The New Earth, Eckhart Tolle talked of the immense value of watching puppies being born and the miracle of life unfolding right in front of your eyes. Talk about blessed!! We are double blessed because we KNOW we are blessed. It is indeed and honor to host these lil babies for the first 8 weeks, and for those of you who have one of our puppies/dogs, you know that I feel blessed that YOU came into our lives as well. (As I write this paragraph, a new litter is just finishing being born right beside me) These babies become part of our world, and they DO still remember me years later as well. But then they go off an become an important part of your world as well. I hear quite often the term “Best Dog Ever” and frankly that is something I always love to hear.

So it is in my little world, that I get to wake up surrounded with lil’ angels all around me – every day!! I have been guilty of posting that “in my limited experience none of the angels I have encountered had any wings at all……but they ALL had tails!! And isn’t that a fine tale to tell others.

Now it’s time for me to get back to work and kiss and hug that new momma and touch those babies for the 3rd time.

From all of us here at Dream About Farm, – Wag More & Bark Less