The Small Joys Of Our Faithful Four-footed Companions.

I just finished bathing Agatha, the small Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pictured above.Not her favorite pastime, but the good-natured little person that she is, if it makes "mom" happy, she cheerfully submits (though if she could talk I know she'd say she could do without all this beautifying stuff)!

That's her, prancing down the drive from the house, probably following me down the get the mail and check to be sure that her nemesis the rabbit who lives down by the front gate, hasn't forgotten that she is the guardian and protector of this place we call home.

That quite simply is the sum of her days, following me on my rounds, tail cheerfully wagging, ever content to be at my side and yes my friends, that is the crux of the matter.  

Agatha the faithful one.

These canine creatures who inhabit the nooks and corners of our lives ask very little but to be allowed to complete us in whatever small ways they can. If you ever really get to know your dogs, to study them to learn what makes them tick, you'll find that for the most part, every single one of them will make a life's work out of exactly that, studying you.

They watch our every move, listening to words and language until their keen doggie minds make sense out of dozens, even hundreds of words. They observe our coming, our goings, they gaze out of the window, waiting however long it takes until OH JOY they see us coming back to them from afar.

With tails wagging with mad glee (oh what welcome like that of our dogs?), they do their utmost to convince us that we were gone such a terribly long time, that they feared we might never return (and had to chew a bit of magazine while they pondered that wrenching thought), but all is now right with their small world.  Their most loved one has come home and now they can get back to the business of helping us make supper.

One never knows what morsel might find it's way into one's dinner dish!