From a Master

From last weekend's Wall Street Journal, comes the following wonderful reporting of the way dogs improve our lives, courtesy of novelist Thomas McGuane. While I am not a hunter, or advocate of guns for that matter, I do understand the necessity of dogs having "work" and hunting dogs, in particular love to do their job.

McGuane says it better than I ever could:

"On a bright and cold October morning, my dogs Abby and Daisy, the Pointer Sisters, are in my closet helping me select my clothes. On the left end of the rack are everyday clothes; on the far right are coats and ties for the occasional urban jaunt; and in the middle, clothes for sport, especially hunting. Here sit the two girls, tails whisking the floor between shoes. They moan, grumble and pant wishfully while my hand hovers over the coat hangers. I shouldn't do this as dogs don't enjoy being trifled with. They know where the thornproof pants hang, since the red suspenders dangle to eve level for them, but they watch my hand. I don't move. Abby turns to stare at my boots with such longing, she must think they can scoop me up and take me into the hills. Finally, Daisy can't stand it and barks at me: I pull the hunting pants from their hanger and with a cry of triumph, they scramble out of the closet to watch me dress. Let others withstand the elliptical trainer, the rowing machine and the NordicTrack. Mama wants two partridges for tonight's table and I will walk long miles hoping to get them."

My dogs know that all is right with the world when I put on my dog-walking clothes first thing in the morning. When I appear in some semblance of business attire, Phoebe turns on her heels and walks the other way. "How could you?" she chides.

It is amazing how we alter our lives for our four legged friends and how in turn these alterations usually turn out to be beneficial for both of us. As McGuan admits, "I can tell myself that I take my dogs afield because they want to go and yet when the hunt is on, the urgency spreads from them to me as they course through rivers of scent; I am tugged along in a state of rising alertness and renewed addiction."

I know that even as I grumble about loading three furry beasts into the car, I always return from our morning hikes delighted that I went.

McGuan quotes Bob Dylan, "You've got to serve somebody."

The truth is, we dog lovers, love serving our dogs, even as they serve us, as McGuane notes, by "glomming the sofa."