A dog's life

Loyalty, youthful exuberance, joie de vivre are words one doesn’t associate much with human beings. Why is it that animals in general and dogs in particular are able to live like there is no tomorrow? I was reading the book “Marley and Me” by John Grogan and I immensely relished the feelings portrayed in the book. I admit, I have a soft corner for dogs and I unabashedly forgive dogs for many transgressions which I hold against humans. The pet I knew of in my family and had a lot of contact with was a dog named Lucky of my uncle. As I was reading the book, I could relate to many of the incidents as happening in the book in relation to Lucky. A dog, or any pet for that matter becomes so much a member of the household and one looks forward to meeting them after a hard day’s work. I remember whenever I used to go to my uncle’s house during the summer holidays; Lucky would rush out and jump on us. Even if we went after a long gap of two to three years he remembered us and would express his joy in the only way he knew. The book describes how the author had brought the dog home when he was a small puppy and he was just beginning his married life. The author describes his progression in each stage and Marley is there at every step. Marley evolves from a rowdy puppy to a family pet in thirteen years. Every success, pitfall, happiness is interwoven with Marley’s life. Life’s ironies I suppose, how our life mirrors animals’ so much. All of us undergo the same stages of childhood, youth, middle age and finally old age. Death of a pet is like the death of a member of the family-hard to forget and get over. I could empathize with the author and shared the grief. I am told I am an emotional person with a little or sometimes no control over my emotions. But shouldn’t we humans be more like dogs? The natural and total devotion a dog feels for its master is a feeling hard to observe in mankind. Does somebody chastise a dog or a mentally challenged child for expressing what they feel? Then why the others? Is there a difference between us?

Marley and Me is a book I suggest to be read not because it describes a saint dog and the author is very pleased with it, but, because it describes just the opposite. With all his misgivings, Marley enjoys a good life with the author till death. One or two things which can be learnt from a dog, I think. Maybe being a higher animal is our biggest flaw...