THE CAT YEARS:
When Rosie came to us, we tried to put a gate up to keep her downstairs. We had cats, however, for whom that gate proved to be no challenge. It promptly proved to be no challenge for Rosie, either, as she learned to do as the cats did--she'd stick her little paws into the holes in the gate and scale it! She was lithe, with long, graceful back paws--she saw the cats doing what cats do and figured that she could do the same. This gets better....
We would sometimes go out into the yard at our house, soon to be joined by Rosie, and we couldn't figure out how she was getting out. Well, one day I looked up in time to see my dog on the first story ROOF of the HOUSE. She had found a place where an upstairs window had not been secured and was using it to come out onto the roof. That still didn't explain how she was getting into the yard, however. I watched her---she came near the edge of the roof and looked down. Then, in a move that had me gasping for breath, I watched her jump off the roof and land on the sidewalk below, completely unharmed! Cats could jump from high places, after all, so she decided she could as well.
THE "HUMAN" YEARS--When She Practically Worshipped Us:
Fiercely loyal to her family (us), Rosie was one of those dogs who ferociously ordered strangers out of her presence (and EVERYBODY was a stranger, even if they were family friends who had been to the house several times). It took MANY repeated visits over the course of a long time for her to even begin to back off---everybody else could expect to get barked at and treated the way the goldfish treated the Cat in the Hat ("He should not be here; he should not be about..."). We thought it was comical...our friends weren't always so amused. At any rate, just THINKING she heard someone knocking at the door was enough to get her started barking. Many were the times when one of us merely banged or tapped something, and she'd jump to the conclusion that someone was at the door. During her younger years (when her sight and hearing were good), I never had to worry about noises at night---if I thought I had heard someone prowling about, I'd just look to see if Rosie was on alert---if she wasn't worried, then I certainly had nothing about which to be concerned.
Rosie thought she was a person---and she practically worshipped us. She got in the habit of greeting us when we had been away. She'd jump up and down on her hind legs with her front paws in the air and vocalize---not really bark, just make wowowowowowow sounds. I finally figured it out one day: WE (the humans) walked around on two legs and talked---so she thought that SHE was supposed to walk around on two legs and make sounds come out of her mouth! Well, that's my theory anyhow...and it seems plausible. At any rate, Rosie adored us. She'd prance around and holler when we'd come in---I often wondered what the neighbors thought, as she would be so loud, that it almost sounded like she was hurt or something. She wasn't---she was just thrilled that we had come home.
When my wife would get up in the morning, Rosie often could be heard first, barking to "herald" her arising and coming out of the bedroom. In the days when she still had a full set of teeth, she'd run behind my wife and grab her skirt while she walked.
We're an Apostolic Pentecostal home---we regularly can be heard glorifying God with lifted hands---I wonder if she learned her behavior from us (do you suppose?). :-) All I know is that Rosie was an absolute object lesson in worship.
Rosie was the queen of the house. We have two cats--if they got too rambunctious or tried to eat while she was "dining", she would shrilly "scream" at them and put them in (what she considered) "their place". And WHEREVER we were, there she'd be--and if the cats tried to intrude, she'd try to chase them off. If we sat on the couch, she had to be on the couch with us. If we sat on the love seat, she wanted to be on the love seat. She slept on the bed when we were in bed---I took to the habit of wrapping her up in her own little cocoon of blankets.
YES, WE SPOILED HER (and I wouldn't have had it any other way):
As she got older and less able to get up and down---again, our obedience training kicked in. We put pillows out in front of the bed and in front of the couch, but half the time, she wouldn't need them. She'd come to where we were and whimper---so we'd pick her up and set her on the couch/bed/love seat (wherever). If she stirred in the middle of the night, I'd gently lift her down off the bed so she could go do her business on her doggie pad in the bathroom---then she'd come right over to my side of the bed so I could provide "elevator service" and wrap her back up again. I smile to think about it now---I'm glad I did it.
We spoiled Rosie rotten---and why not? Isn't that what owners are supposed to do for their little lap dogs? When my wife had breakfast, she'd feed her part of her eggs---and often fried a separate one for her. When I'd have a midnight snack, she'd come into the kitchen (of course!) to ask me to give her a bite--she had our patterns down.
My wife works third shift---she'd watch my wife, and when she could sense that she was fixing to go lie down, she'd trot off to the bedroom AHEAD of my wife (so she wouldn't miss her opportunity to try to sleep on the bed as my wife slept). She studied us and had us down. Brilliant. Stunningly, uncannily brilliant little dog...and I was proud of her.
Pets...particularly dogs...take on the personality of their owners through the years, thus becoming both a reflection of and an integral part of their families. And as we pamper and spoil them, it's as though we're pampering that little child inside ourselves. I'm glad we pampered Rosie. I'm glad we put up with her quirks. I'm glad we gave in to her and indulged her. It may have seemed like a bit of a nuisance at the time---now I'm just glad we did.
Rosie crowned our home with so much joy; so much unconditional, uncomplicated love---my heart is crying tonight...I'm going to miss her. But my heart is also gladdened tonight--I'm at peace, and thankful for the 16 years that she shared our home and our lives. She was our first Oklahoma pet (one we acquired after moving here in 1997), our first poodle---and day in and day out, "Queen Rosie" was our constant companion.
So today has been hard. I chose to bury her in a place of honor in the FRONT of the house. My wife and I have decided to plant a beautiful bush there...you guessed it, a ROSE bush...in her honor. When we see the roses bloom, when we smell their fragrance, we'll remember Rosie and rejoice in the good times, the wonderful memories, and be thankful that she was a part of our lives.
Just one final thought...I've always been told all my life that animals don't have souls and don't go to Heaven. Well, that may be true. But then again, didn't John the Revelator see horses coming out of Heaven? Where'd THEY come from....hmmm? So you never know, do you? :-) Maybe Roses really will bloom again. At any rate, THANK YOU JESUS for the 16 years we had with Rosie. We loved our little dog, and we were blessed.
No comments:
Post a Comment