I could not live without a dog

Sophie when she couldn't pull back the covers

and get to the sheets

Either I didn’t make the bed before I left for a few days over Thanksgiving or someone snuck in and slept in my bed. I’m pretty compulsive about making it before I leave the house. But then again, I hardly think either Christian or the good neighbors who watched over Sophie would stop for a nap. Nope. The culprit was Sophie herself.

When I throw the covers back in the morning to let the bed air, Sophie often makes herself comfortable. She prefers to sleep on sheets, thank you, rather than on top of the comforter. So while I was gone, she apparently pawed the covers back to make herself a little nest. And for some reason known only to her, she dragged the small lap blanket from the bottom of the bed up by the pillows.

Dogs—and the way they think—are so interesting. I have had a dog ever since I was young and can only recall one six-month period without one. I cannot live happily without a dog.

This time of year, for some reason, I’m seeing a lot more Facebook posts for free dogs, found animals who need a home, a pet whose owner died, etc. (Of course, one post that I got all concerned about was from 2016—a little late for my concern; I need to learn to check the date.) My fear, and what I post frequently when I see give-away dogs, is that they’ll end up as bait in the dog-fight ring. It really happens, folks.

I’ve read that men who run the fights send some innocent-looking person to pretend their looking for a pet, a companion—perhaps a wife or girlfriend. This poseur “falls in love” with the dog and walks away with bait-meat. Other times they send out people to scour back yards. Leave your dog out when you’re not home, and you could come home to an empty back yard and an open gate. The scoundrels leave the gate open, so you’ll think the dog escaped.

Lots of people write that they don’t want to take the dog to the pound. To my mind, that’s a humane solution. Better yet, your local chapter of the humane association. These days, reputable rescue groups abound. In Fort Worth, we have Good Neighbor Animal Rescue, among others. It’s so much better to put a dog where the new owner will be carefully vetted.

I’m grateful that my neighborhood association has an email list that serves as a great lost-animal alert. Posts about missing dogs and cats are frequent, but we also see grateful posts that say the animal is back home. One cat returned home after more than two weeks. But it helps to have neighbors watching out for that missing gray-and-white kitty who’s a bit shy or the lab who loves everyone and was last seen on a busy street.

Another word about dog ownership: please know that it is cruel to leave them chained outside twenty-four hours a day. Dogs are sociable animals; they want to be inside with the family. And dogs who are chained suffer constantly, besides being prey to all kinds of things against which they cannot defend themselves because of the chain. If you plan to chain a dog, you don’t deserve to have one. PS: it’s now against the law.

My final plea about puppies, kittens, and other pets at the holiday season is please, please don’t give them as gifts unless you’re sure the recipient wants to make a commitment for the lifetime of the animal. Dogs and cats are not disposable items, to be discarded when they are trouble or they grow bigger than you expected or you’re tired of them. They are living, feeling creatures who, just like us, know love and fear and loneliness. There are few things sadder than that dog cowering in a cage because his family dumped him.

Give a dog a happy holiday season—and a happy lifetime.