Sure puppies are cute and fun, but an old dog will teach you a little about life, and a lot about yourself. Today is my buddy Shep's 12th birthday, and in tribute to his years and wisdom, I wanted to share this article by Gene Weingarten. Here is an except:In our dogs, we see ourselves. Dogs exhibit almost all of our emotions; if you think a dog cannot register envy or pity or pride or melancholia, you have never lived with one for any length of time. What dogs lack is our ability to dissimulate. They wear their emotions nakedly, and so, in watching them, we see ourselves as we would be if we were stripped of posture and pretense. Their innocence is enormously appealing. When we watch a dog progress from puppyhood to old age, we are watching our own lives in microcosm. Our dogs become old, frail, crotchety, and vulnerable, just as Grandma did, just as we surely will, come the day. When we grieve for them, we grieve for ourselves.
This part of the recent book Old Dogs, which is full of photos and profiles of the kinds of old dogs we have all grown to love.
Shep says thank you for thinking of him. He's enjoying his birthday.
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