Some of you are living with your first dog. Some of you have had two or more dogs. My beloved first Ridgeback Truman was my first dog. Lucky is my second.
I adopted Truman at 7 weeks of age with my former partner, a great guy who is a dog man through and through. He'd had dogs of his own from a young age. He taught me everything he knew about dog training, and he gave me the best piece of advice regarding dogs that I've ever come across.
He told me "we have them for a short time, and the only thing we can do is enjoy each moment with them, and try to give them the best life we can; to enjoy every second we have with them, to appreciate them fully each day, so that when we lose them, we'll know we've done our absolute best by them."
This was great advice, and I did just that with Truman. I used to look at him in the park with love, and I understood that it would end. Some people would say that those thoughts are maudlin, but I don't agree. It helped me to live in the moment with a beautiful boy whom I loved very much.
Subsequently, when we lost Truman, we took comfort in the knowledge that we had appreciated every moment, and had truly done our very best by him.
This time, this second time around with our Lucky, we are more keenly aware of all of this. It's hard to be so aware that we will be together for a relatively short time. But remembering what we felt when we lost our Truman, we are truly living each moment with our Lucky to the fullest.
It's not maudlin, it's good.
And for your delectation, the lovely and sweet Truman:
And his great-nephew, grandson of Milo, Lucky. By name, and nature. Love this boy.
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