It’s no secret, I’m a dog lover. I’ve had dogs my entire life that I can remember. There may have been a year hiatus between when Crackers was put to sleep and when Kirby was adopted. Dogs sometimes just know things, speaking of which PJ dog must know I’m starting to write about her as she just placed her paw on my leg and is staring at me with her big brown eyes.
This picture was taken a day ago when I was getting ready for work. The unwavering affection in her eyes, without even a whimper or a bark she lets me know, “I love you, thank you for saving me, thank you for rescuing me.”
I didn’t rescue PJ for the gratitude, I didn’t buy her because I felt I was doing something good and I wanted the credit for it. I rescued PJ because I’ve had dogs, I’ve seen that affection, that loyalty, that love. I wanted a dog as a companion and I got way more than that.
PJ is quite possibly the most affectionate dog in the world. When I leave my house in the morning, she sits there and stares at me, she turns her head to the side and her big brown eyes glisten as if she’s about to tear up. It takes everything I have to walk out that door.
As pathetic as it sounds, I leave music on when I’m gone to entertain her. I won’t leave the house without telling her I love her. If I’m going somewhere and it’s going to be dark before I return, I leave the dining room light on so she doesn’t have to sit in the dark by herself.
I don’t even have close to a real job. I can work from home most of my day. But for those four to five hours of the day I’m gone, if I’m gone more than that, I have someone walk her or pick her up. She could easily make it the entire day, but I just hate the feeling of her being alone.
I recently bought a house in Marietta. My first home, I’ve lived in a apartments and with my parents. People ask if I live alone, I tell them no. They ask who is my roomate, I tell them I don’t have a roommate, I live with my dog PJ. Most people just laugh, they don’t understand. But the dog lovers know, I truly don’t live alone.
Dogs are such a loyal animal, so loving and caring, they become part of your life just like a child. Some nights when I go to bed, I’ll tell PJ it’s bed time. I’ll go upstairs get ready to go to sleep, brush my teeth, set my alarm and the TV sleep timer. Most nights, PJ is waiting there at the end of the bed on her little pillow(yes she has her own pillow) and all is right with the world. I hop into the bed, tell pj good night and I fall asleep probably within 15 minutes.
But there are some nights, when PJ just decides, “I’m not going to bed right now, I feel like playing with my toys a little longer.” Those nights, I get ready for bed just the same way, I set my alarm, set the sleep timer, hop into bed… then I toss and turn, I can’t sleep. The sleep timer expires and I have to turn the tv back on.
There is a travelers insurance commercial where the dog has his favorite bone, he hides it a few places, he buries it, he puts it in a safe deposit box and he dreams about it. Finally he gets it insured by travelers and all is right with the world, see below.
So I’m watching that commercial and I’m thinking, “wow that’s a cute commercial.” As I look down, PJ is sitting there next to me with the same exact bone in her mouth, as if to say, “Can we get insurance on this?”
Dogs know, they know when you’re sad, or angry. I’ll yell at my laptop and pj will crawl over, put a paw on my leg and look up at me. Telling me, “Whatever is making you mad, I’ll listen to you.” I’ll sit there and talk right at her, and even though she has no idea what I’m saying, she tilts her head to look interested, then she’ll give me a few quick doggy kisses and everything will be ok. Today I went to visit my parents, they live only a mile away. The majority of the time I go there, I’ll take PJ with me and she will play with Kirby(16 years on Saturday the 31st and still kicking.) I didn’t take her today because it was just a quick trip and she HATES the car.
I get to my parents I’m cleaning up a small grill that I’m taking to a pearl jam concert tomorrow. I walk inside a few times, and back into the garage. I hear Kirby inside whining. My mom is inside, so she’s with him, he’s not alone, he sees me coming in and out and he’s whining. He’s expecting PJ to be with me. He misses his friend and wants to play with her. We promise Kirby she’ll be here tomorrow, so they can play. He opens his mouth, hangs his tongue out as if to smile and pants a little bit. You can tell he’s thinking, “But I wanna play now!”
The other week, I tortured myself by watching Marley & Me. Let me just say, I bawled like a baby. From the first time Marley had trouble walking up the steps until he was put down, my eyes were welled up with tears. I’d look at PJ and think, “I know you’re only five, but I have no idea how I’m going to take it when this happens to us.” I love this dog. Pj watched the whole movie with me and we cuddled a bit afterwards.
How you could ever hurt one of this animals is way beyond me. That undying affection, the loyalty. No matter what kind of day I had, PJ is always waiting at the door to give me doggy kisses and I can’t wait for her to give them to me.
I love my dog.
