Knowing When Your a Lucky Dog

I have been thinkin’ over the last couple days and I have come to the conclusion that I am one lucky dog. If you think about it, you will probably realize that you are one lucky dog too!

It all started when I stepped in the fire ant hill, which was quite unlucky of me really. Those darn ants got all in between my toes and my pads and stung me something awful. Mom was very brave to swat a lot of them off with her bare hands (because they can bite her too) before putting me in the sink with soapy water to kill off the rest of the ants.

Mean and ugly Fire Ant

Mom was very upset and concerned all day and I, like any smart dog, milked that for all the treats it was worth! Then, when Dad came home he said to Mom, “Where’s my dog that you tried to kill today?” Well, that did upset Mom a bit, even though Dad was kidding around, and I had a thought – “these two humans really, REALLY care about me”!

Then, I read about the Pedigree blog hop which was raising food for dogs in shelters. Of course, I joined right in that blog hop! I didn’t realize there were so many dogs that didn’t have forever homes or lots of delicious food! I know my Mom and Dad always go on a hunt and come back with bags of great food (although I still haven’t figured out why it comes in bags). This is when I thought – “I am pretty lucky to have a forever home with humans to do the hunting for me”.

But then yesterday I realized – “I’m not ‘pretty’ lucky, I am REALLY lucky”. I watched a show with Dad about how so many dogs end up in shelters because of behavioral problems (I didn’t know being bad could send you to the shelter jail). The show said a lot of dogs end up there because their owners didn’t understand the breed(s) or how to socialize/train them properly from the time they were a pup. This can lead to behavioral issues like incessant barking, aggression, tearing up the house, etc. and the owners just “give up” on the dog. This is terrible since it isn’t even the dogs fault (at least, that’s my opinion)!

So, now I know I am a really, REALLY lucky dog because I have a forever home, with humans who love me and feed me and teach me stuff and socialize me with other dogs (and even cats and other humans) and take me to the vet when I am sick…the list can go on and on!

Now, before I go to sleep every night I am going to say this (if you're a lucky dog, maybe you can say it every night too):

I will hold in my heart:

gratitude for the pack of which I am part,

love for the humans who care for me,

and knowledge that I am very lucky.

For the dogs that love is lost:

I will keep my four paws crossed

so they know they are not alone

and will someday find a forever home.