By Pro Canine Trainer Annie Phenix, ACB-KSA
Screaming at each other was something of a sport in the family I grew up in. My family of six happened to be gold medal winners in our genetically chosen sport of yelling at each other. The only constant in my young life was my dog named Cricket. He found me. And then he saved me. Cricket was the first evidence in my young life that love existed.
I grew up in the 70s when nobody neutered, fenced or leashed their dogs in my neighborhood. Cricket just appeared one day. After he was in my life, it seemed as though he had always been there.
Cricket looked like a German Shepherd in his coloring, but his body was kind of like a hunting dog with a hound-y tail that went up over his back. His presence in my life began my long obsession and deep love of German Shepherd type dogs. I even love that they have the word “shepherd” in their name. And boy-oh-boy did I ever need a good shepherd to help guide me through my chaotic and often cruel childhood.
Cricket would jump over our 6-foot brick fence and sometimes follow my bus to middle school. At each stop he would try to board the bus – his eyes asking the driver politely: may I board? At each stop he was admonished and yelled at by the bus driver. I called to him from my seat on the bus, sometimes fighting with the window that would not easily come down. He was the first dog who taught me to understand canine body language and the depth of emotion shared in a dog’s eyes.
He followed the bus all the way to my school. He’d wait outside until recess. He’d find me and we’d sit under a tree together, my arms around him, thanking him for loving me when no one else seemed to. I felt very loved and very special to get to see my dog during recess. Every bus trip to and from the school he had to navigate a four-lane highway. I was sick with worry twice a day, but he always made it safely somehow. The joy that dog brought me at recess kept me invested in living.
One Thanksgiving his back legs gave way. I spent the entire holiday outside on the back porch with him because he wasn’t allowed in the house. I grew up in the south so Cricket and I weren’t cold, at least not from the weather. I warmed him and he warmed me. He didn’t pity himself and I learned from his acceptance of what was happening to him.
Thankful for Dog’s Love
To this day when I feel put upon by the world or by the ghosts of my dysfunctional human family, I think of Cricket and his stoic demeanor. I think of his unconditional love for me and his grace in living. I try my best live up to his estimation of me. I fail a lot but I also learn something from every dog I’ve lived with and worked with. As a professional dog trainer, I’ve helped thousands of dogs heal from the daily traumas we humans heap upon them. Thanks to what I have learned from these magnificent creatures, I am by now wise in the ways of healing – both for dogs and through dogs.
As we approach Thanksgiving in the United States, please take a good, long look at your dog and shower your best friend with all of the love we can give them. Let’s be grateful for their healing and for their huge forgiving natures. We can help dogs by meeting their specific canine needs and during the holidays, this most certainly includes protecting dogs from the business of human-created holidays that start in October and keep going every month until summer.
While thanking your dog for his love and affection for his complicated keepers, I ask that you highlight your dog’s needs this year. Let’s give them back some of that compassion and wisdom that have been sharing with us all these years, shall we?
Thank you dear Cricket and all of my four-legged teachers who have followed. You have changed my life’s trajectory in the best ways possible.
Did you have a childhood dog that meant the world to you?
I’d love hear all about your dog over in The-Dogverse – our safe, online community for dog lovers who want the best for their dog.
Read more about how dogs need us to keep them safe.
If you would like professional help in creating a plan for the next three months of holiday mischief-making to keep your dog safe, email me: annie@phenixdogs.com.
Or, join me in The Dog-verse, a private community dedicated to giving your dog the best life possible. Learn more
Annie Phenix, ACB- KSA, has achieved many certifications including Certified Canine Behaviourist (INTODogs), Family Dog Mediator (FDM), CPDT-KA (Retired), Fear Free Certified Professional, Graduate of a Schutzhund Dog Academy, CGC Evaluator, Nose Work Instructor, and many others. She is the best-selling author of canine behavior books, including her most recent title: Positive Training for Aggressive and Reactive Dogs. Learn more about Annie on her website: www.ChoosetoTrainHumane.com
