Your Choice

You chose the black one over the white one.
The black eyes over the blue.
The quietest of the bunch over the loudest.
The shortest over the tallest.

You choose when they are in their crates and when they
are out.
What they eat, and when they eat.
Which toys are for playing with and which aren't.
And to look for treats in small humans hands.

You choose who their puppy friends are.
When and how long they can visit their friends,
And when you meet a dog you don’t like,
You sometimes help them find their enemies too.

You teach them how to alert when danger is near.
How to be quiet when it has passed.
When it’s okay to just curl up on their humans lap,
And when it’s time to get off.

You show them to ring a bell to go outside,
And to scratch on the door to be let back in.
To pull on a rag to open a fridge door for their
human,
To nudge it closed when they are done

Through their lives we decide many things for them,
And in return, all they ask in return is a pat on the
head,
A gentle word or two whispered in their ear,
And a treat every now and then.

Love them while you can, for their time is fleeting.
One day muzzles will gray,
Eyes will cloud over,
Paws will tread with more care over our floors.
One day you will have to choose again,
To allow your beloved to fall asleep with dignity.

One day.

But for now, love them as much as they love you.
They love us more than we deserve.

“Let me be the person my dogs thinks that I am”

By

Laurel Swayze