Saturday, October 11, 2014

Dog Watches and Waits for Visitors

Back when my dog Tidbit was about a year old, we lived in Rome, Georgia, in the country. Our home was on a hill in a three-acre clearing amid about seventeen acres of Georgia pine trees.

Tidbit, being part Chow, part Australian Shepherd - a marvelous mutt - and a great watch dog, would stand guard over the driveway from the top of the hill, just watching and waiting ever so patiently for her next visitor. (Or uninvited guest!)


My old roommate, Chris, came from Kentucky to visit for a week. For Chris and Tidbit it was love at first sight.

Tidbit could have cared less that Chris had traveled for hours to get to us and might need a bit of rest. Tidbit immediately cajoled Chris into a game of chase that lasted a good hour or more.

Around and around the evergreen tree they chased one another. Often it was difficult to figure who was chasing who across the clearing.

I was the lucky one. I was able to sit on the porch in a relaxed state watching Chris and Tidbit run and play, waiting for them to tire so Chris and I could begin a long awaited visit. It had been about five years since we'd seen one another.

Chris and I enjoyed our week together, as old friends should, and Tidbit certainly enjoyed her new playmate.

Of course, I made no secret of the fact that I was the one who felt like I was vacationing since I didn't have to keep up with that marvelous mutt's energy level while Chris was visiting.


Naturally, Chris asked about the pen tucked into the shade of the trees, and we told her all about the goat we once had.

Bucks was Tidbit's playmate for several months, running the yard together. Unfortunately, Bucks disappeared one day while I was at work, never found and never to return.

That was such a sad time for both me and my dog Tidbit. 

For weeks, Tidbit would lay at the goat pen for hours every day in mourning over the disappearance of Bucks, her friend and playmate.

This would not be the first time my dog Tidbit would mourn, just as I, over the loss of a friend. Together, she and I would mourn the loss of her daughter dog, Scratch. (That story I'll save for another day.)

Many say that dogs do not have emotions like humans do. Their claim: dogs do not have an understanding of death nor grief, that they are merely concerned about the pack having changed. I disagree. It is my experience that my dog Tidbit certainly mourned Bucks going away and never coming back. 

What do you think... 
Do dogs mourn the loss of other pets and animals?


I invite you to share a dog story of your own this week and link it up with the PAWSit Hop Saturday blog hop here at Dog Pawsitive Tidbits.

Grab the PAWSit badge to add to your blog post and link it to this article. That way others can find the meme too and our paw prints will surely grow. 

But of course, I will be promoting all PAWSit links on Dog Pawsitive Tidbits at Facebook and PAWSit on Pinterest. It's a win/win networking situation for all of us dog lovers!



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