What they know

     The exuberance that he shows is remarkable, but it is not for everybody. Something happened in his past that keeps him from fully trusting everybody on sight. There must be some cloudy memories of pain in that little head of his, and in some way certain people, through no fault of their own, or no sinister, deep dark meanness hidden with friendly smiles and handshakes bring those emotions to the forefront, but he doesn’t lash out at people who intimidate him, rather he cowers, and worries, but ultimately gets close enough for them to be touched by him.

     There is something everlasting about the spirit that accompanies a dog, something that as smart as we are

we will never fully understand. We have the brains and reasoning ability to know everything, but what do we really know? Perhaps there is a completely different way of communicating that we cannot comprehend, something that far surpasses our ability to understand the world around us and the people in our lives. Maybe each species is gifted with senses that surpass what we think are the five biggies, sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Our eyes see, and our ears hear, and our noses smell things. Our tongues taste and our skin feels, but is that all there is? We feel emotions like love, and fear, and hate, and sense those feelings in others, but how deeply? Is a dog able to sense those emotions as clearly as we can see written words on a page, or hear the crescendo as our favorite songs reach their climactic peak?

     I think so. I think they are capable of that, and things that we cannot imagine, and in their bodies that are vastly different from ours, I think that they too know when they are needed most and are able to make their feelings known with absolute clarity, and for those fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a dog’s attention the result is one of the things that makes the mysteries of living not only bearable, but incredible.

From the book, Mr. Wilson Makes it Home, (Skyhorse Publishing, February 3, 2015)