We thought of starting the week on a pawsitive note with our #DogStory series. But first a question: do you’ve a DOGTOR at home?
You know a DOGTOR who is four-legged, furry and treats any ailment for free. Well, technically speaking there are some charges but not monetary. You’ve to give these DOGTORs some treats, hugs and take them for long walks.
So, before reading on, if you’ve a DOGTOR at home, please get up and give them a hug first.
Now the #DogStory
Set in the US this story starts with a couple describing the central [canine] characters Arde and Corey. Two independent natured springer spaniels who weren’t exactly “lap dogs.” Of course, they like to hang around their humans but not quite the cuddly kinds. Until one day when everything changed.
The couple decided to move from South to North Carolina as the “wife’s” father, Richard, was diagnosed with brain tumour. An otherwise active person who was more than capable of doing almost very chore was quickly fading away. As a nurse practitioner, his daughter wanted to be close to her parents.
Welcome lap dogs
Soon the couple arrived at the family home with Arde and Corey in tow and the most unexpected happened. One look at Richard and Arde “calmly climbed in his lap and went to sleep.” Over the next few weeks, the pack devised a crafty plan of taking turns to do their lap dog role.
If one was comfortably sleeping, the other would bark as if something was wrong. The moment the sleeping dog jumped out of Richard’s lap to join the bark fest, the barking one would change course. And the next moment climb onto Richard’s lap and go off to sleep as if nothing happened. They became Richard’s constant companions.
A year later Richard passed away at home – “right where he wanted to be.”
Why DOGTORS are so special?
Arde and Corey were present when Richard passed. They watched everything quietly from the hallmark without even a single bark. When the funeral was over, and the house became quiet again Arde climbed onto to Richard’s wife lap. That’s it!
Dogs are special that way. Without a word [bark] they know how to heal. It’s almost instinctive. “Dogs are nature’s physicians of the heart, and their medicine is powerful.”
The story titled ‘Doctor Dogs’ is written by Thomas Smith in the book “Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dog Did What?”
