Читать книгу Leashes and Lovers - What Your Dog Can Teach You About Love, Life, and Happiness - Sheryl Matthys - Страница 16

The late comedienne and actress, Gilda Radner, once said, “I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.” That’s just one more piece of evidence that these six dog-like qualities are also the foundation for effective, intelligent, and thoughtful communication.

Ellen DeGeneres, one of Hollywood’s most famous dog lovers, had this to say during a 20/20 interview: “They [her two dogs] don’t care that I am gay... they love me no matter what!”

But we already know dogs are loyal. Even if we hadn’t seen the thousand or so movies and TV shows depicting the loyalty of dogs, we as dog lovers have lived their loyalty a thousand times over. You show a dog even a little affection and they return it ten-fold. They will love you, befriend you, and stay by your side, no matter what. They will always admire you. Try asking that of your closest human friend or family member.

Unfortunately, we often don’t return their loyalty. Margery Facklam, an apprentice of TV celebrity zoologist Marlin Perkins and author of more than three dozen books, once opined, “We give dogs love we can spare, time we can spare, and room we can spare. In return, dogs give us their all. It’s the best deal man has ever made.”

How often do we give our dogs D-List love, when in their eyes we are always A-List superstars? Now, I agree that we and our dogs need some routine in our lives to provide order. But let’s just ponder how we’re going about it. We may feed them when we’re ready, not when they’re hungry. We may walk them when it’s convenient for us, not when they’re itching for some playful exercise.

If only we were as loyal to our dogs as they are to us, we wouldn’t have to make such a conscious effort to be loyal to others in our lives! When we improve our loyalty to our dogs, in turn we become more loyal to all the others in our lives as well.

Ellen DeGeneres, one of Hollywood’s most famous dog lovers, had this to say during a 20/20 interview: “They [her two dogs] don’t care that I am gay... they love me no matter what!”