Stray Dogs, Cats & Humans Who Changes Whom?

By Rick London
When entering a relationship, or even considering it, we always talk about unconditional love. We miss it. We sometimes received it from our parents and more often from grandparents.

But when it comes to "leaving the cleavage" of mama, it's a rough world out there. We may find glimpses of love from our mate, and sometimes a lot more than glimpses. Even the best of relationships and marriages can have "conditions".

Have you ever owned a dog or cat? There are no conditions. We may train our dogs and cats, to do certain tricks (it impresses our friends), but have you thought about what they teach us?

It's called unconditional love and if you don't think we learn it from them, think again. That is one of the few if any places we do learn such a wonderful way to live. We learn tolerance, patience, forgiveness and so much more.

I will give you a ridiculous far-out example, but, more often than not, we have our pets spayed or neutered, which is a smart thing, unless we are breeders of them.

And yet dog remains man's best friend. Can you imagine having the same procedure done to your own human best friend, and he or she come home and lick you in the face the next day wagging his/her tail and wanting nothing but your love or attention? I know that is a bit far-fetched, but it is a reality.

A dog (and even a cat) loves you simply for being you. There is an old Irish prayer, "Lord, please make me half the man my dog thinks I am".

If only that were true. And if you think a dog or cat will love you unconditionally, you can take that a step further. Try adopting one from your local shelter. Cats and, it seems especially dogs, have a keen 6th sense and memory that is uncanny. They will appreciate you and show you a kind of love you've never experienced.

I just lost "Thor", my mixed breed that I found in the woods in rural Ms. He looked a lot like Benji. That was 12 years ago. He lived, the vet believes, to be almost 22 years old. Ironically, the first Benji, (there have been more) was found not far from where I found Thor.

After owning Thor a few years, I found people were much more pleasant to me. I thought it was because I had such a cute friendly people-loving dog. Maybe that was a part of it, but the major part of it was Thor had taught me something I had never experienced before, unconditional love on steroids. That dog loved me no matter what.

I am still grieving over the loss of Thor, and will for quite awhile. But I will soon adopt or find another dog and know that I will experience this most unique phenomena that can be found nowhere else. May you have the same blessing.