A story about a “diabetes-sniffing service dog” recently grabbed headlines when the dog — named “Jedi” because the force is with him — detected a sudden drop in the blood sugar level of his seven year-old padawan, Luke Nuttall.
The whole house was asleep when Luke’s blood sugar dropped to a perilously low level and Jedi, after detecting the change through his sniffer, woke up Luke’s mother and made a specific gesture (bowing for low blood sugar, paw raising for high blood sugar) so she could administer a glucose tablet.
Well that story gave me the feels. It’s amazing when you suddenly realize how closely humans and dogs depend on each other.
I adopted a rescue dog last year: a little Chihuahua terrier who goes by the name of Aoife now. My family had to put down our aging dog a few months before and a grey sense of emptiness had fallen over each of us. I mulled over the possibility of getting a new dog; considered the financial implications, making the time for a dog, having enough space, etc. But still, I was anxious about making the final decision.
I asked my mother, How did you and dad end up deciding to get a dog when you already had two kids? Our family’s first dog died when my brother and I were young, and I later found out how hard her passing was on my parents. But not a year later and a new little fluffball was in our lives.
My mother said, "Because we wanted you and your brother to grow up with a dog, that’s why. Even though we knew it would be hard when the time came to put her down, we knew we had to get a new puppy for you."
After I adopted my pup, I realized I’m not wholly myself without a dog in my life. Maybe I would have been like this regardless of how I was raised, but I like to think my parents’ insistence on a dog made a difference.
You don’t need to find a dog with super-special sniffing abilities to make an impact on your children’s lives. If your kids have been begging that your family get a dog, I’m gonna give you seven solid reasons why you should say, “Okay.”
This is a big one for any kids growing up without siblings, from what I hear. Personally, I had an older brother to adore and annoy, so I can’t speak from experience on that.
But there were times when he was off doing his own big brother things and I wanted, needed, a companion. There were times when the bullies at school became too much and I would run off the school bus, crying, into my father’s arms.
And I needed that. But sometimes, when I was eating my after-school peanut butter crackers, sniffling at the kitchen table, I needed to feel a tuft of fur and cold little nose on my arm, silently asking if I was okay. Even if I said, "I’m fine, go away," she knew I wasn’t fine and would sit next to me until I was ready to admit it.
I love my brother. People have told me I-don’t-know-how-many-times that I remind them of my brother. He played Barbies and GI Joes with me. And by "played" I mean "sat next to me and probably ignored me but it was okay."
There were times when I was sick with the flu beyond belief and my brother, understandably, didn’t want to come near me. The average child catches anywhere from six to 10 colds per year, but my childhood was more like a years-long bout of an ear infection-virus-cough-pneumonia-cold.
I was really, really grateful to have a friend around when everything hurt, and one who wasn’t scared of coming down with the same relentless and perpetual plague of a head cold.
The average young adult today isn’t likely to have much money saved up. In fact, even many parents have trouble saving. A recent Bankrate.com survey of 1,000 adults shows that around one in four of us has absolutely no money saved up at all. That’s worrisome. That’s really, really worrisome. Management of time and money is something that parents should be emphasizing with kids whenever possible.
When your family dog decides to eat a whole sock and needs emergency surgery, the real necessity of financial management is clear. When you stay out shopping for just a little too long and you come home to a stinky mess on the floor, time management is pretty darn obvious.
I’m gonna get all cheesy on this one and I don’t care. This one saying is possibly the most relevant and truthful thing I’ve ever heard. If your home is the type of place where animals are cared for and loved, your home is, de facto, a good place that is filled with love.
You know that warm happy feeling you get when your partner is playing with your kids, or when your parents are telling their grandchildren a bedtime story? That warm feeling is what happens when you see and absorb someone else’s love. You gain more respect, trust, and love for that person when you see the love they’re capable of giving. When your kids see you showing your unconditional love for the family dog, it helps them understand that they are worthy of the same love — and that they are capable of giving it, too.
We always seem to forget that humans depend more on nonverbal communication than on verbal communication. Having excellent speaking and writing skills is important but it’s actually not a necessity.
Our ability to communicate in ways that don’t involve complex sentences is amazing.
I can’t begin to explain how horrified I was as a child when I learned that dogs probably don’t see in color. I was also all kinds of confused when my dog was able to spot a bird in complete darkness and chase it across the yard. When she heard thunderstorms approaching an hour before we did. When she knew exactly what time my father would come home, and sat at the door waiting for him, even though she obviously couldn’t read a clock.
I realized I was actually kind of jealous.
I had assumed that life was terrible without color in it, but I realized that she was probably experiencing the world in so many other ways that I’d never be able to experience directly.
How has this given me an advantage as an adult? I’m not entirely sure, but I feel as though I have the willingness to see the world through others’ eyes if I can; to imagine what it must look like if I can’t.
We lose our playfulness as we get older. “Playing” has turned into “videogaming,” if we want to be accurate about it. Having fun is not a necessity these days.
This is really something of an epidemic for young adults — and it’s one that spans across country borders, socioeconomic status, job titles, income levels, religion…you get the picture. Having a great resume is more important than having fun.
As The Guardian recently wrote,
“If modern life is unkind to our mental health, it’s no doubt in part because so many young people fear that admission of vulnerability will affect their employment, or their relationships, at a time when their futures are already far less clear than those of their parents.”
Letting down your guard is essential when you play fetch or tug-of-war with your dog. It’s something that most adults are scared to do because it paints a picture of vulnerability; oddly enough, it’s this act that makes parents with young children seem so much more approachable, understanding, genuine, and happy.
When your children see you letting down your guard to play — and when they are encouraged to do the same — creativity increases while anxiety decreases.
You are going to get mad at the dog when she pees on the living room carpet, just like you’re going to get mad at your kids for running across the living room wearing dirt-covered boots. You’re going to forgive them — and you know it — but sometimes this isn’t always clear to kids.
As a child prone to extreme anxiety and also extreme troublemaking, I worried that one day my parents might never be able to get over their frustration and anger. But I also saw many, many times that they just needed time to cool down; our family dog just waited patiently, giving them time, and they always acquiesced with an apology of, “How can I stay mad at those puppy dog eyes?”
Seeing my parents forgive an animal that couldn’t even apologize made me see how forgiving they are toward everyone — even toward me — and showed me that I can do the same.
In Conclusion:
Let’s all get puppies. (And remember: #adoptdontshop!)
RELATED: The Things No One Tells You Before Bringing Home Your Puppy
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