No Begging

For all my whining and belly-aching about keeping Brad's big dog Max for the last several months, my house felt so very empty yesterday after Brad coaxed his big old chocolate furball into the front seat of his car where, unbeknownst to Max, he would remain for the next 28 or so hours. According to Brad, Mr. Max did really well in the car yesterday, alternating between sleeping and standing with his head hanging out of the passenger window. But today, however, not so much ... when Brad called earlier today, I could hear Maxie whimpering, begging for the long, long ride in the car to be over.

It only took Max a few days to settle into the routine of life at my house when he came to stay with Ollie and I for a couple of months ... he learned especially fast when it came to Cheetos at bedtime, treats before I left for work and going for long walks each evening on my beloved trail. Many nights, I walk with my friend Jeanne, and old Max dog took an instant liking to her ... in fact, after the first few nights of meeting up with Jeanne to walk, the minute Max saw her, he would almost rip my arm off tugging on the leash as he tried to get to her as quickly as he possibly could. While I could attribute Max's affection for Jeanne to her sparking personality, her quick wit and great sense of humor or her genuinely caring and giving nature because all of those are definitely true of my dear friend, alas, I must confess that Max loves Jeanne for a far more simplistic reason ... Jeanne always has dog treats with her when we walk.

I didn't have to tell Max to sit when we met up with Jeanne on the trail, and I didn't have to tell him to lift his paw to shake with her ... he did those things without being told because he knew that Jeanne would always give him a treat. Whether he was begging or just being his adorable self ... well, I suppose only old Max dog knows the answer to that. I personally think it was both ... looking up at Jeanne with his golden eyes and his best sad dog face would certainly qualify him as a beggar, but lifting his paw to shake or sitting up and waving his paws in the air cemented his cuteness factor for sure. It doesn't really matter whether Max dog was begging or being adorable, the final outcome was the same ... he got treats, and that's all that mattered to him.

As much as I hate to admit it, I got choked up when I had to say goodbye to that big brown beast yesterday, and saying goodbye to Brad and Shelby was ... well ... suffice it to say there were plenty of tears shed by Max dog's three favorite humans. Ever since they drove away, I've been thinking a lot about begging dogs, probably because there's a little wiener dog in my house who's been over-the-top clingy and needy for the last couple of days. Little Ollie has been begging nonstop for my undivided attention because he doesn't understand where his pal Maxie went. And the more he's begged, the more I've thought about the ways we humans do the very same thing. We beg to be seen and heard ... we beg to be loved and cared for ... we beg to be recognized and appreciated ... we beg to matter ... we beg to be respected ... we beg to make a difference.

Here's the thing, friends ... maybe, just maybe, if we simply treated one another the way we would like to be treated, there would be no need to beg for any of those things ... maybe there would be no need at all.