Remembering Jake

The Artdog Image(s) of Interest
I'll write the planned post about another endangered beauty spot a different time. Today I simply want to remember a beloved friend. My dog Jake has gone on ahead of me, as dogs too often do, taking a journey I'm not yet ready to take.

Jake in the back yard with me, in October 2016--Photo by Signy Gephardt

Jake was my writing companion, the co-inspirer of certain dragon body-shapes in my artwork, and my exercise buddy who made sure I took walks as often as possible--at least until his lungs gave out.

He was a rescue dog, an Italian greyhound-whippet mix (thus, a "whiggie") who came into my life around the turn of the decade. He died this week of lung cancer, at the age of almost eleven.

He will be sorely missed.

Mine's missing someone at the moment, alas.

IMAGES: Many thanks to my daughter Signy for capturing a moment between Jake and me in 2016, and to Defining Wonderland's post "Adventures in Dog Watching," for the Roger Caras quote. The source they cite for the quote image is no longer there.

For Companion Animals

Day Six: Gratitude for Companion Animals

When placed up there next to some of the other massive issues (yesterday I was talking about global food security, for example), the blessing of having a companion animal in one's home at first doesn't seem to be in exactly the same league.

But human-animal bonds are ancient and strong. I have argued on this blog in the past that the history and development of humans would have been considerably different without domesticated animals--especially dogs (dogs are my ultimate favorite animals, so I admit I'm sorely biased).

It's a really incomplete picture to leave out cats, horses/donkeys/mules, cattle/oxen/water buffaloes, sheep, goats, swine, chickens and other poultry, rabbits, guinea pigs, camels, and llamas, though. Indeed, without mice, rats, and other animals, our medical history also would have progressed much differently.

But this post is particularly concerned with companion animals--the very dearest pets, the ones we invite into our homes, and often consider to be members of the family. Readers of this series with exceptionally good memories will recall from the latter paragraphs of Monday's post that I do consider ours to be family members.

We have several decades' worth of studies that affirm their value, at this point, though the unenlightened in Western society still all too often insist "it's just an animal." Poor things: they simply have no idea.

I can personally attest to the importance of companion animals for meeting people and staving off loneliness (yes, that's me in the photo above, with my current dog Jake). The very best way to meet people in our neighborhood is to take the dog out for a walk.

As to staving off loneliness? My dearly-loved Chihuahua-MinPin mix (who stayed right beside me through three successive bouts of pneumonia one horrible winter, and who still is featured in my Facebook profile pic) died the Christmas before both of my kids moved away to college and took all the other resident animals with them. With my Beloved working extremely long hours, if I hadn't gotten my little Iggy-girl Brenna that following November I think I'd have gone into an even deeper depression from sheer loneliness.

My daughter spent more than a year, living mostly--except for her animals--alone in California, doing hard, undervalued work as a caregiver to an elderly relative. She did make friends, but her animals helped keep her sane. They still do, even as she faces new challenges.

I also can attest to the beneficial effects of companion animals on children. In my family's case, two Border Collies and a Bernese Mountain Dog-shepherd mix helped my Beloved and me rear our kids, assisted by several cats and an assortment of gerbils and hooded rats (at our church, my daughter became known as the "gerbil-whisperer" for good reason!).

It is perhaps needless to say that I believe that the initiatives to use therapy animals for everything from the "reading dogs" who help beginning readers strengthen their skills to the "comfort animals" who visit hospitals and hospices, disaster sites, and nursing homes are well-advised to tap into the almost-magical connection humans have with companion animals.

I'm a strong believer in the value of the human-animal bond. As our society splinters into ever-smaller family units and as people "cocoon" in their homes more and more (the telecommuting fad seems to have peaked, but internet sales still continue to gain on actual face-to-face shopping in brick-and-mortar retail stores), humans' essential, social-animal nature hasn't changed. It's healthier to connect with an animal than with nothing and no one at all. I could argue that our animals are one of the last things keeping us connected to ourselves.

The health benefits of companion-animal ownership--both mental and physical health--are well-documented and hard to dispute. The soul-benefits are harder to define, but no less important.

IMAGES: The "Seven Days of Gratitude" design is my own creation, for well or ill. If for some reason You'd like to use it, please feel free to do so, but I request attribution and a link back to this post. Likewise, the three quotes from Allan M. Beck and Marshall Meyers all were extracted from an article by "Anna" on Ethical Pets The Blog, but the photos are variously by my daughter and me, of ourselves and some of the dogs in our lives. I did the design work for all three of those quote-images. Feel free to re-post them, but please include an attribution and a link back to this post. Thanks! The Jane Goodall quote image is from the Eco Watch site, from a post by "True Activist" last April. The Anatole France quote image is from One Green Planet (featuring a photo by Wendy Piersall), via Pinterest. Many thanks to all!

Days of the Dead: All Souls Day

I was told at some point by somebody that the first of the Days of the Dead, All Saints Day, is focused primarily on memorials of loved ones who lived with us, became adults, and maybe even are our ancestors.

An unidentified woman sits by the decorated tomb of a relative in San Antonio Aguascalientes, Guatemala. (AP/Moises Castillo)

The second day, All Souls Day, shifts the focus to the babies, the children, the innocent spirits we lost too soon. I cannot imagine any grief greater than losing one's child, and I thank God every day that's one terrible sorrow I have so far been spared.

Unfortunately, as I write this all too many parents and grandparents--in Kansas City, and everywhere else--are grieving just such losses. Wherever there is strife, poverty, illness, famine or terror, the children suffer the most. The world is full of evils, and it has been a bad year for far too many children.

For me, that category of "innocent spirits" also must include beloved pets and other animals: pure spirits who have enriched life on earth, and who are gone all too quickly. I do not see this attitude as a belittlement of lost children, simply an acknowledgement that profound losses may come from many different quarters. For most of the people in my life, their companion animals are cherished family members, and I cannot see that as anything but appropriate.

Oh, and--don't try to convince me that animals don't have souls. I have no patience with such claptrap, no matter how many famous persons or theological authorities you care to quote. If they said that, they're flat wrong, and probably never paid proper heed to the animals in their lives, or they would know better. Even the Bible agrees with me (if there are no animals in Heaven, how can Jesus come from there on a white horse in Revelation? I rest my case).

My hope is that today's post will encourage anyone who reads it to live more mindfully with those they love--be they humans, or some other species. Cherish the time you have with them, no matter who they are. And be sure they know how you feel!

Blessings to you.

IMAGES: Many thanks, once again, to NBC Latino's 2012 feature on the Days of the Dead, for the beautiful photo from Guatemala. I also want to thank Judy Jacintho's "Quotes" Pinterest board for the image and quote about spending time with loved ones, and The Better Future's website for the quote about grief. 

Artdog Photo of Interest: Super Powers

This week's Photo of Interest honors K-9 Veterans Day, officially observed on March 15. Our K-9 veterans no longer are treated completely like equipment, but let's all remember today that we owe them our grateful thanks!

We also should remember that people literally would not be where we are today if it hadn't been for our teaming up with dogs in prehistory. They enabled us to hunt better, herd better, and do many other things better. Dogs continue to make our lives better, still today.

So give your best friend a walk and a hug, and show your gratitude by doing something to support animal welfare--especially the welfare of our canine veterans.

IMAGE: Many thanks to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Facebook Page, for this image.

Photo of Interest: Watch Out!

You never know when a hazard will appear.

IMAGE: Many thanks to the K9s4Cops Facebook Page! 

Photo of Interest: Muddy Paws

Have you had a thaw recently? Then you understand.

IMAGE: Many thanks to the ever-fruitful Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Facebook Page, for this image!

Photo of Interest: COLD out There!

Domesticated animals depend on us. We made them that way, so it's up to us to keep our side of the bargain.

 

IMAGE: Many thanks to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Facebook Page for this image.