Doggy Revelations

I have these so-called weirdish "revelations" now and then during my everyday life. These random thoughts can sometimes be an awakening for me and some of them become building blocks for the principles that i live my life by.

Recently, while i was playing frisbee with the dog (yeah, of all situations), while we were practicing some vaulting, Chester did a pretty mean vault off my right leg and landed with the frisbee nicely in his mouth. Prior to this, when he used my right thigh as a stepping board to propel himself higher, the force of the vault actually made me lose my footing and i stumbled a few steps back, lost my balance and ended up butt on the grass.

At that instance, i was overwhelmed by the brute force of an animal yet at the same time, pretty awed by the whole thing - the grace he exhibited while vaulting off me, the precision he displayed in catching the frisbee mid-air and finally, his perfect landing. It suddenly made me feel small beside this magnificent dog and i suddenly wonder why some humans believe themselves to be more superior than their pets and do all sorts of nasty things to their dogs just because they can.

I've seen Chester gnawing at marrow bones bigger than my hands and i don't think i'll ever want him to chew on me like he chews those bones. It's not that he can't maul or kill me - he just doesn't and it should put many humans to shame, especially those that abuse whatever prerogative and authority they have over others. I've never had to beat the dog up or use any aggression on him just because i can and i respect the fact that even though he has the means to retaliate and defend himself when i do anything unpleasant to him, he doesn't. By the same token, i try not to hurt someone, take someone for granted or exert my authority over someone, just because i can.

It's peculiar i know, the way i extrapolate and conjure up all these weird shit.

Anyway, just the other day, i had to take a look at Chester's mouth just to see if his hard palate had pigments (some old wives' tale that claims that the more pigments there are, the smarter the dog). While i was scrutinising his mouth, Dan commented that Chester seemed to really trust me, considering how uncomfortable it was for me to be pulling his upper and lower jaws apart and putting my whole face into his mouth (ok, exaggerating!!).

As we were discussing this whole trust issue, i recounted the incident where i had to obtain blood from Chester to do a cross-matching for a sick Collie. I remembered how he allowed me to single-handedly draw blood from him - i had to tie him up, use my left hand to act as a tourniquet to raise his vein and then use my right hand to hold the needle and syringe needed to draw his blood. I will never forget how he offered his paw to me when i asked him to and the way he looked at the needle going under his skin and how he looked at me after. He didn't get edgy and neither did he cower. Instead, his disposition was calm and there was no sign of fear in his eyes.

If you know Chester, you'll know he's a dog who's easily threatened and is hyper-reactive towards impending threats. Dan says its hard to imagine a dog so boisterous and dominant, show so much trust and gentleness towards me and i can't agree more.

You know how the term "good dog" is so subjective? To some people, a good dog has to win trophies and ribbons. To others, a good dog is one that knows how to sit, stand, stay and roll over when asked to. To me, a good dog is one that exhibits unconditional love and complete trust towards its family and loved ones. To me, that's of paramount significance and that's probably what we all should try to achieve as people too. (Disclaimer: Like a good Christian should say, our ultimate aim is of course to love everyone even our enemies, but i say we'll start by loving our family members properly first, okay?)

It led me thinking about how some people are really nice to their friends but treat their family like crap. I think the basis of loving people should start within a family, with people who are supposedly closest to you. It's easy to take them for granted because often times, we assume it's okay to do certain things to them out of convenience and without considering their feelings, but tell me how logical it is if you only know how to love your friends and not your family, the people related to you by blood?

It's just kinda embarrasing when you think of how we humans are supposed to be intellectually more superior than a dog (FYI, a Border Collie has the intellect of a 3 year-old-kid), yet we fail to carry out the most basic dictum of loving your own brethren.

Some kids' have eyes glued to the google box when their parents return home; some parents have nothing more to say than "uh" or "mmm", or any other sort of grunting noises to acknowledge their kids when they are greeted. When i come home, Chester welcomes me with a big hug and goes into a frenzied dance routine which consists of a series of very violent tail wagging, thrashing throughout the entire house and finally throwing random toys at me. And me? After i'm done with returning the affection, i'll pass on the affection to my folks (much more toned down affection compared to a dog's, i must admit), greet them like a loud hailer and spend some time with them talking about the day and other mundane happenings.

Sure i spend alot of time training Chester and teaching him new things (this morning, Dad just asked me how Dan and I have so much energy to tirelessly spend weekends after weekends coaching Chester), but i think the valuable lessons he has unconsciously imparted to me by just being himself, a dog, is probably beyond any worldly price.