A PET'S PRAYER - Acadiana's Multi-Media News Station

  Imagine for a moment what it would be like if your pet could sit down for a heart to heart talk with you.  What do you think they would say?   Would they ask for a softer bed, more treats, fewer walks?   Probably not.  Chances are, the one thing they would ask for more of, is your time. 

  We recently came across the following "Pet Prayer" that we wanted to share with you, in the hopes it might make all pet owners stop and think, and treasure every moment they're fortunate to share with their four-legged best friends.

I am your dog, and I have a little something I'd like to whisper in your ear. 

I know that you humans lead busy lives.  Some have to work, some have children to raise.  It always seems like you are running here and there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand things in life.

Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer.  See the way my dark brown eyes look at yours?  They are slightly cloudy now.  That comes with age.  The gray hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle.

  You smile at me, I see love in your eyes.  What do you see in mine?  Do you see a spirit?  A soul inside, who loves you as no other could in the world?  A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for just a simple moment of your time?

 That is all I ask.  To slow down, if even for a few minutes to be with me.  So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on that screen, of others of my kind, passing.  Sometimes we die young and oh, so quickly, sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat.  Sometimes, we age so slowly before your eyes, that you may not even seem to know until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and cataract clouded eyes.  Still, the love, is always there, even when we must  take that long sleep, to run free in a distant land.

  I may not be here tomorrow, I may not be here next week. Someday you will shed tears from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief fills their souls, and you will be angry with yourself that you did not have just "one more day" with me.  Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me. 

  We have NOW, together.  So come, sit down here next to me on the floor and look deep into my eyes.  What do you see?  If you look hard and deep enough, we will talk, you and I, heart to heart.  Come to me not as "alpha" or "trainer" or even "Mom" or "Dad" but as a living soul, and stroke my fur and let us look deep into one another's eyes, and talk.

   I may tell you something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you something profound about myself, or even life in general.  You decided to have me in your life because you wanted a soul to share such things with, someone very different from you, and here I am.  I am a dog, but I am alive.  I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our spirits and souls.  I do not think of you as a "dog on two feet"--I know what you are.  You are a human, in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.

 Now, come sit with me, on the floor.  Enter my world and let time slow down, if only for fifteen minutes.  Look deep into my eyes, and whisper in my ears.  Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will know your true self.  We may not have tomorrow, and life is, so very short.  We have today.

With much love,  Your Dog

(Author Unknown)

This is dedicated to the memory of Gumbo, a 14-year-old American Bulldog who recently lost her brave battle to live.  She was loved and treasured every day of her life by her human, Delaine, whose grief all animal lovers share.  Farewell, Gumbo.