Every week I post comments from people who have had to put dogs down , and their pain and suffering is so acute it hurts my heart every time I read them. And yet, the tsunami of grief that overwhelmed me after Willie died was so intense that I barely made it through the first few days.
I knew it would be awful. Just not that awful. In other words, they wrap us up in everything we need from our families, from the bottom up and the top down.
Bear with me while I elaborate:. First, grown up dogs may be sentient adult mammals, but they are non-verbal and basically helpless, just like our own young. However, it is of course also an advantage, in that it makes our relationship with them simpler and devoid of the baggage that weighs on our human relationships like an anchor.
And many ways, they are as helpless as a toddler. Thus, dogs elicit primal emotions from us that are central to our being. Our brain, hormones and behavior are designed to respond to young, helpless mammals. None of this is new to any of us, right? Most of the time dogs seem to think we hung the moon, even though none of us really deserve it. But most of the time, there is simply no one in our lives that loves us as much as does a dog. The desire for it is as primal as the need to nurture baby mammals.
We hear at length about the need for children to feel unconditional love from their parents to be truly healthy as adults. Remember that this does not mean spoiling children or creating no boundaries. I love you does not equal I love everything you do. Ask any parent or child how easy this is to pull off.
