SONICFROG DOT NET

Doggy Rapture!

A friend of mine, Johnny (aka Johnny Rockstar) recently wrote a post about some observations of the canine variety:

I’ve been watching my dog lately, just observing the way she interacts with the world, and it’s got me thinking. Watching her flip out when I put her collar on has made me wonder when was the last time I was so excited about something that I couldn’t control myself? I mean completely, lose control; as in spinning in circles, jumping up and down, and yelling. I can’t think of a time that I have ever been that excited. Not now when a new video game comes out. Not a few weeks ago when I got my new job and moved to Memphis. Not as a kid on Christmas morning or at a birthday party. Not ever.

I just can’t relate to that level of excitement. I can relate to her barking at a noise in the middle of the night. I can relate to her look of bliss when I scratch her belly. I can even relate to her clinging need to press right up against me when she sleeps. And yet, I just can’t relate to the way she completely loses it when I pick up a ball to throw or pull her leash out of the bag.

I wonder what it’s like to be that lost in excitement. I also feel just a tiny twinge of jealousy that it all comes from something so simple.

It’s the same with our dogs, especially the younger one, Odo (pictured above). When we let him into the house when we first get home, he is absolutely bonkers with doggy joy. And when we break out the leash for a walk, he can hardly contain himself. Our older dog, Judy, though she is slowed greatly by arthritis and hip dysplasia, gets so excited that she seems to almost forget the ailments; she is, for just that little while into the walk, young again.

Johnny is right to question whether we have the capacity to feel joy on that level. Our first romance? Nah. Too messy. Getting married? Wouldn’t know from experience, but it seems there is so much stress involved. Getting hired at a job that you really wanted? Hello! It’s work, remember. I can’t think of ever having the kind of jump-out-of-your-skin type rapture that dogs get from being around us. Maybe that is why we love them so.

A younger Judy.