This past week, I lost the man in my life of 17 years. Louis was not just my dog, but my therapist, companion, and my first baby in my life. He came into my life when I had a big breakup and helped me through so many tough times. I think a lot, I analyze, and instead of recapping everything I felt as I go through the emotions of not hearing the pitter-patter through my home, I wanted to share 10 things I learned from him and how I’ll remember him moving forward.
{1} Dogs love unconditionally. This is so hard to do as humans and it’s something I’m working on. Not only finding someone that I can do that with, but so many things I write below are related to loving unconditionally.
{2} Embrace even when angry. When I got upset at him for mistakes, he always came over to lick my hand and love me. I know, he’s a dog, but if I only did this more in my life. Embrace and love rather than stay angry. Forget about the small stuff, just let it go.
{3} Run around and live life freely. When he was a puppy, man he was a monster on little legs. He would run and run so fast I couldn’t keep up. When I lived in NY, he would walk 4-5 hours with us, just living life. I’ve been doing this more after my divorce with my travels, but he reminds me to keep going and just live it!
{4} Adore those that love you completely. Don’t hold back and adore and love with your heart. I hope to get to this place when I find someone special.
{5} Embrace newness and change. With every move, every city, he adapted with me with little issues. Even going to places temporarily while I was on vacation, he always adapted and people loved him. Change is good, scary, but good. This is definitely something I’m more comfortable with than most as I tend to embrace new adventures. But making sure I stay on the positive light is something I work on with any change.
{6} Ask for what you want. He used to whine and bark when he wanted something, food or water or affection. I think we need to ask for what we want more. Tell people what we need rather than assuming they know. In work and life, only I can make things happen if I don’t ask it may never happen.
{7} Be ok in apologizing first and let it go. A goal of mine and I’ve been better at this in my life. My type of letting go sometimes is hiding or taking a break from people. I’m not angry I just need some time for myself.
{8} Don’t expect and appreciate people. This is so hard for me as I have such high expectations for myself that I tend to have high expectations for others. I definitely do appreciate people in my life and how I do that is texts of gratitude but not expecting something from others is something I’m really working on.
{9} It’s not about things but people. Louis loved people. That was it. It’s not what I had or where I lived or even what I gave him besides love. It is the people I surround myself with, the people I love, that makes my life great, not the things.
{10} Family is everything. He was a huge part of my growth, not only did I lose my dog, my longest relationship, but I lost some part of my family circle. He was a loving memory of my past and all the things I did in 17 years. His passing wasn’t expected and I don’t want to go into detail, but I feel guilty for not giving him the best days of his life as I happened so quickly. Life just keeps passing by, hug and love everyone you care about daily.
Thank you for reading and being a part of my personal journey. xoxo
I am sitting here beside my 16 year old pup, so all of this really resonates for me. My dog was a gift from my Mom, who passed away almost two years ago. I don’t know if I’d have made it through the loss without him. Dogs are extraordinary.