A Dog’s Lesson – Never Give Up

Leave it to nature, once again, to remind me that obstacles, no matter how difficult, can be overcome.

Take my dog Maggie. This 15-year-old rescue pup (border collie/German shepherd) has had quite the struggle lately. See because of her shepherd side, she has inherited some hip issues. We’ve started taking her to a chiropractor and are trying acupuncture this week. We’ve also been online shopping for doggie wheel chairs and just got in the mail one of those pet harnesses to help your best friend stabilize when they go for a walk.

We’ve also recently inherited a cat, Bernie. He’s very affectionate, and to Maggie’s chagrin, loves to be around people. You’ve heard of cat people and dog people? Maggie would like to have a stern talking to any and all cat people to espouse the horrors and evil that cats bring into the home. (For the record, I disagree and have always been a cat AND dog person.)

One more thing to know about Maggie. Her two strongest attributes are herding (from the other side of her lineage) and protecting. Whenever there is something upsetting, say a thunderstorm or fireworks, she would go around the two-story house, room by room, to gather each of her family members and usher them to the basement, where of course it is the safest place to be.

So imagine, knowing this to be your core nature, not being able to climb stairs or walk more than a handful of steps or even in a straight line because one of your legs just doesn’t listen to you anymore. It might seem like an insurmountable obstacle. It might start to get you down.

Not Maggie. She still has the face of a puppy, with that sharp little mind shining through her sparkling eyes. She still barks every time she sees the cat because he is clearly the devil and we’re just too dim to realize we need protection. She still gets excited when her favorite people come over – my mother-in-law being one of them. She still makes sure she is strategically sitting nearly equidistant between me and my wife – her herd.

And she still tries, every day, many times a day to stand up. Sometimes she’s even successful (although her success rate increases significantly if there is food involved). It is inspiring and reminds me that no matter what is going on in our lives, it does not need to change who we are at the core of our being or prevent us from trying again, and again, and again.

Because if we stay true to ourselves, to our nature, then all obstacles can be overcome.