A friend of mine sent me the following parable.  It is written from the perspective of the family dog, but the author is unknown. It is a great reminder to us all to appreciate the moment and to be generous with our time and attention, and the wisdom of its lesson crosses time, generations, and species. It bears repeating here:

I am your dog, and I have a little something that I’d like to whisper in your ear. I know that you humans lead busy lives. Some have to work, some have children to raise. It always seems that you are running here and running there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand things in life.

Look down at me now while you sit there at your computer. See the way my dark brown eyes look at yours? They are slightly cloudy now. That comes with age. The grey hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle. You smile at me: I see love in your eyes. What do you see in mine? Do you see a spirit? A soul inside, who loves you as no other could in the world? A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for just a simple moment of your time?

That is all I ask. To slow down, if even only for a few minutes, to be with me. So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on that screen of others of my kind, passing. Sometimes we die young and oh so quickly, sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat. Sometimes we age so slowly before your eyes that you may not even seem to know until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and cataract-clouded eyes. Still the love is always there, even when we must take that long sleep, to run free in a distant land.

I may not be here tomorrow: I may not be here next week. Someday you will shed the water from your eyes that humans do when deep grief fills their souls, and you will be angry with yourself that you did not have just ‘one more day’ with me.

Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me. We have NOW, together. So come, sit down here next to me on the floor and look deep into my eyes. What do you see? If you look hard enough and deep enough we will talk, you and I, heart to heart. Come to me not as ‘alpha’ or ‘trainer’ or even ‘Mom or Dad’. Come to me as a living soul and stroke my fur and let us look deep into one another’s eyes and talk. I may tell you something of the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you something profound about myself, or even life in general. You decided to have me in your life because you wanted a soul to share such things with. Someone very different from you, and here I am.

I am a dog, but I am alive. I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our spirits and souls. I do not think of you as a “dog on two feet” I know what you are and who you are. You are human in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.

Krissy and I spend a few moments together on the floor.

Now, come sit with me on the floor. Enter my world and let time slow down if only for fifteen minutes. Look deep into my eyes and whisper into my ears. Speak with your heart, with your joy, and I will know your true self. We may not have tomorrow, but we do have today, and life is oh so very short.

So please….. come sit with me now and let us share the precious moments we have together.

Love on behalf of canines everywhere,

Your Dog

We took a little break from the blog last week, but we’re back with a special blog post from Life to the Max illustrator and designer, Terry Rohrs, who just returned from a trip to Eastern Europe. As she related her adventure to me, I was struck by the cultural differences not only with the people she and her husband met, but also with the dogs they encountered.  I asked her to share her observations in a special guest blog today. Here’s Terry:

A dog’s lot in life is not the same around the world as it is in America. This was never so apparent to me as when my husband and I recently had the opportunity to travel to Eastern Europe. Our observations of dogs in these countries helped to solidify our belief that our own rescued dog, Tater, would probably not have made it out alive if she had been a stray anywhere else.

In Macedonia there were lots of dogs. Almost all were uncollared and ran loose. Like little hobo dogs, they were just about the only beggars I saw. But they weren’t pushy about it. They relied on those big puppy-dog eyes that evolution has nurtured in the species for thousands of years.

My daughter, who’s been living there now for more than 20 months, says dogs are not given elevated “family member” status in Macedonia. They are yard pets, they are working dogs, or they are strays, but not many people bring them into their homes. She told us you won’t find anyone talking baby talk to their dogs, or buying them special treats, or dressing them up in pretty collars and coats. It’s just not done!

We were encouraged to follow the other Macedonians’ example; ignore the little stray and he’d move on. But have you any idea how hard that is for an American dog lover to do? Sometimes when no one was looking, I’d bend down, give a pup a good scratch and tell him just how cute he was and how much I’d love to take him home.

One little guy was so sweet; you could tell he’d appreciate anything we did for him. All of the little hobo pups were good at turning on the charm. Say what you will about the unseemly life they lead: these street dogs don’t know a different way, and they are very grateful animals. I never saw one that was unfriendly, aggressive, bossy, or seemed to have any issues at all with humans! I’m convinced that Cesar Millan would go hungry in Macedonia.

But don’t let them fool you — these dogs are as much pragmatists as everyone else — if I didn’t have food to give them, they’d enjoy a short scratch or chin rub, then move on to the next easy mark! No gain, no loss.

Of course, we were never happier to get home to our own lovable canine companion, but now we appreciate her even more. We know now that Tater’s very lucky she’s an American Girl!

Tater comfortable inside her American home with her favorite ball

The opening line in Christopher Plummer’s recent autobiography is “I was brought up by an Airedale” and I’m thinking of that today as I prepare to celebrate my son’s graduation from high school. Our dogs have been pervasive in Andrew’s life–he has quietly shared ice cream with Bernie; happily blown bubbles with Max; patiently pulled prickers from Amber’s fur and laughed as he and Krissy play chase around the house and yard.  Andrew has grown into a smart, funny and caring young man and I think our dogs have had a paw in teaching him as much as my husband and I have.  In honor of Andrew’s graduation, today’s Life to the MAX Pose of the Week is one of my favorite photos of Andrew and Max, which is also featured in the dedication of our book.  If Max were here today, I think this is what he would say to Andrew.

Bernie, Max, Amber and Krissy–I think we did good!

This week’s Pose of the Week is of my friend’s Airedale tripod, Nina, who epitomizes the Life to the MAX attitude.  Since having her leg removed a few years ago after what they thought at the time was cancer in the bone, Nina has not lost a step. In fact, the way she stands, walks and engages in life, you almost have to look twice to realize her front limb isn’t there. Nina could have whined, sulked and withdrawn from life, but to her, nothing was missing from her life–she had love, family and a warm place to sleep. According to Mark, Nina never stopped being happy, active and just as mischievous as usual.  A little disability is not going to stop her!

As humans, we can all learn something from Nina.  Like Nina, we all endure some wounds, losses or setbacks during our lives, but we can choose to blame our bad luck or bless the event that made us stronger.  Nina is leading the way. Now we just need to have enough sense to follow.

Send us your funny, cute or inspirational dog photos for your chance to win a free copy of our book and remember we are now in the process of collecting stories for our sequel.  If you have a story about the lesson you learned from the Max dog in your life, please send it to us or submit it online.

This week’s Life to the Max Pose of the Week comes again from Susan Widmar of her Airedale puppy, Dudley.  This adorable photo caught Dudley’s Dad peeking at him through the laundry chute. No doubt for Dudley, this phenomenon was met with a mixture delight upon seeing Dad and bewilderment at how he came to fit in that little door!

Join the fun! Send us your cute, funny dog photos for your chance to win a free copy of our book.  Also, we are beginning to collect stories for our sequel, so if you have an inspiring story about a dog named Max, please feel free to submit it online.

“Nina, you were jaywalking and I overheard you speaking canine. You must be illegal. Show me your papers!”

“But I have no pockets!”

This week’s Life to the Max Pose of the Week comes from my friend, Mark Setterholm. His picture of his Airedale, Nina, peeking warily around the corner of the house made me think about what’s going on now in Arizona. Forgive me for getting on my soapbox, but I want to make it clear that I am not a part of the supposed 70% of Arizonans who support the passage of the Arizona Senate bill 1070. (Also I’d like to know who is doing the polling!) The problem with immigration and our borders certainly needs to be addressed, but legislation like 1070 only exacerbates the problem, fanning fear, suspicion and distrust, and escalating the very type of violence it is trying to stem. Put desperation together with our free-wheeling Arizona gun culture and bad things are bound to happen.

As a small business owner, I also find it reprehensible that a governor of a state that is experiencing little to no economic recovery would sign this bill purely for her own political gain, knowing full well it would further compromise our already struggling economic recovery. Cancellation of contracts and conventions with Arizona businesses will hurt real people with real families to support, not the politicians who will do or say whatever it takes to get re-elected.

Immigration is a complex issue that needs thoughtful debate, not self-serving sound bites and hateful legislation. Fear should not inform our decisions. Otherwise, as Walt Kelly once wrote, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Next month, my son graduates from high school and in preparation of celebrating this milestone, I have been going through a lot of the pictures we have accumulated over the years. One of the things that has struck me as I review these images (other than “What was I thinking with some of those hairstyles and glasses?!”) is how much wonder babies have at discovering the world and how much excitement they exude at mastering even the simplest tasks. Like when Andrew discovered that Bernie made a good pillow.

Or how happy he was to be at the same level as the dogs in his dinosaur walker.

Or how content he was just to share a bit of ice cream with his buddy, Bernie.

As adults, we often let daily stress, thoughts of past difficulties or projections of future problems mask that child-like wonder of enjoying the little triumphs that are a presented to us each day. Though it’s often hard to stay in the moment, if we remembered-even for a few minutes-to act a little more like babies and puppies, we’d have a lot more gratitude and fun to share with each other.

That’s what I thought about when I saw this picture of Dudley that was sent to me by his mom, Susan Widmar.

Even when we get older, there are new worlds to explore and moments that make you say, “AWWWW!”  And when you do, you know you’re living Life to the MAX!