I told Facebook this morning that I am grateful for grief, and how it teaches us the far reaches of love. I have been thinking about one friend I'd been praying for, the one who lost his fellow hunter in the UTV accident. I was thinking about the hunting dog that my friend found and brought home with him. The piece I left out of the account is that early this month, that same friend had to let his own hunting dog cross the rainbow bridge.
When I wrote my gratitude, it was with these people in mind. Yesterday afternoon, my friend posted to Facebook about the hunting dog he helped to recover. When they got to his friend's truck, she jumped in, then searched the travel trailer, looking for her owner, who is no longer with us.
Dogs are sensitive souls. I hugged Ember extra after reading that.
As many of you know (some may not), the commands or cues that we give our dogs in training are often specialized to the dog and their human. Especially a sporting dog. So, for example, I don't use the word "heel" with Ember, but I do use the cue "hip" to put her nose in her reward zone, by my hip. If you have a trained hunting or herding dog, you need to know what human words they are trained to.
I'm wishing Jazz a long and happy life as she returns today to her owner's widow today. I do hope that woman can take great comfort in the link Jazz will provide to her loved husband, now that he's gone on before. In the interim, I'm sure her presence with my friend for a few days has helped him with the loss of his own dog.
Life is good. But always too short, be it human, canine, feline, or avian. Cherish every moment. Tears are cleansing. Grief is just another extension of love. Spark on!
Tears are cleansing. They strike at odd, and quite unexpected times. Memories that sneak out and trickle down our cheeks. 🥹
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