Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (2 page)
Read Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul Online
Authors: Jack Canfield
Amy’s husband, Mahmoud, for his unflagging encouragement, love and support. And her parents, Phil and Mary Monteith, who inspired and fostered her love of pets from the beginning. Her wonderful brothers and their families, Laird, Gene, Jodi, Sherrie, Andrew, Colin, Erin and Kyle Monteith—and their assorted beloved canine family members past, present and future. And Fafnir who lives on in the hearts of his family.
Marci Shimoff, who, as always, is an inspiration, a support and, of course, the best friend ever.
Cindy Buck, whose excellent editing skills we rely on deeply, and whose friendship matters even more.
Sarajane Peterson Woolf, our literary and highly literate editor whose insights and advice were invaluable.
Christian Wolfbrandt, dog-walker and dog-sitter extra-ordinaire— and good friend. Your help was so appreciated!
Our publisher, Peter Vegso, who is a cherished friend, both personally and professionally, and from whom we’ve learned so much about writing and successfully marketing a book and remaining doggedly loyal.
Patty Aubery and Russ Kamalski, for your brilliance, insight and continued support, as well as for being there on every step of the journey, with love, laughter and endless creativity.
Barbara Lomonaco, for nourishing us with truly wonderful stories and cartoons.
D’ette Corona, for being indispensable, cheerful, knowledgeable and as steady as the Rock of Gibraltar. We couldn’t do it without you.
Patty Hansen, for her thorough and competent handling of the legal and licensing aspects of the
Chicken Soup
for the Soul
books. You are magnificent at the challenge!
Laurie Hartman, for being a precious guardian of the
Chicken Soup
brand.
Veronica Romero, Teresa Esparza, Robin Yerian, Jesse Ianniello, Jamie Chicoine, Jody Emme, Debbie Lefever, Michelle Adams, Dee Dee Romanello, Shanna Vieyra, Lisa Williams, Gina Romanello, Brittany Shaw, Dena Jacobson, Tanya Jones and Mary McKay, who support Jack’s and Mark’s businesses with skill and love.
Lisa Drucker, for editing our final readers’ manuscript. Thank you once again for being there whenever we need you.
Bret Witter, Elisabeth Rinaldi, Allison Janse and Kathy Grant, our editors at Health Communications, Inc., for their devotion to excellence.
Our great friend, Terry Burke, who takes a personal interest in all the books and who doggedly pursues sales so that, in this case, pets and people can benefit.
Lori Golden, Kelly Maragni, Tom Galvin, Sean Geary, Patricia McConnell, Ariana Daner, Kim Weiss, Paola Fernandez-Rana and Julie De La Cruz, the sales, marketing and PR departments at Health Communications, Inc., for doing such an incredible job supporting our books.
Tom Sand, Claude Choquette and Luc Jutras, who manage year after year to get our books translated into thirty-six languages around the world.
The art department at Health Communications, Inc., for their talent, creativity and unrelenting patience in producing book covers and inside designs that capture the essence of
Chicken Soup:
Larissa Hise Henoch, Lawna Patterson Oldfield, Andrea Perrine Brower, Anthony Clausi, Kevin Stawieray and Dawn Von Strolley Grove.
Special thanks go to Frank Steele for the gift of a special friendship. Your support during the birthing of this book means so very much.
And a thousand thanks to the wonderful pet-loving writers, especially the members of DogWriters Association of America, Cat Writers’ Association, Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, the “Colorado Gang” and the “Warpies” whose helping “paws” aided enormously in the success of this book. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Thanks also to all the
Chicken Soup for the Soul
coauthors whomake it such a joy to be part of this
Chicken Soup
family.
And our glorious panel of readers who helped us to make the final selections and made invaluable suggestions on how to improve the book:
Ellen Adams, R.V.T., Beverly Appel, Joyce Barton, Cindy Buck, Wendy Czarnecki, Roni Coleman, Jennifer Dysert, Kay Eichenhofer, Duchess Emerson, Maria Estrada, Terri Frees, Jill Gallo, Veryl Ann Grace, TracyLynn Jarvis, Erica M. Kresovich, Marcy Luikart, Kathy Moad, Erin Monteith, Phil Monteith, Mary Jane Monteith, Rebecca Morse, Mary Jane O’Brien, Tom Phillips, Kylee Reynolds, Caitlin Rivers, Barry Schochet, Betty Schubert, Patti Shanaberg, Anthony Solano, Julie Urban and Mindy Valcarcel.
Most of all, thank you to everyone who submitted their heartfelt stories, poems, quotes and cartoons for possible inclusion in this book. While we were not able to use everything you sent in, we know that each word came from a heartfelt place and was meant to celebrate dogs as the family they are.
Because of the size of this project, we may have left out the names of some people who contributed along the way. If so, we are sorry, but please know that we really do appreciate you very much.
We are truly grateful and love you all!
Throughout the ages, our lives with dogs have been lovingly documented—from cave art to hieroglyphics and from medieval tombs of European knights to Victorian wedding portraits. In today’s world, dogs are still an important and highly visible part of modern culture.
Just turn on a television or leaf through any magazine or newspaper to see a mind-boggling array of canine accoutrement for sale. Refrigerator magnets read, “Dear Lord, Please help me be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.” Bumper stickers announce, “We’re staying together for the sake of the dog.” Two- and four-legged family members even pile on the couch together to view videotapes of shared family vacations.
The human-animal bond, or simply “the Bond,” isn’t just surviving—it’s thriving!
In fact, it is the strength and power of the Bond that inspired this book’s creation. In response to our call for stories, we received thousands of submissions from dog lovers around the globe who shared with us the myriad ways their dogs have positively impacted their lives.
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul
is a testament to the enduring love we humans have for the dogs who share our lives. The chapters in the book reflect the main ways that dogs benefit us: They love us, heal us, teach us, make us laugh and sometimes break our hearts with their passing. As author Roger Caras once said, “Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.”
Dogs have been at our sides longer than any other domestic species. Perhaps this partnership arose and endured because people and dogs are so similar: We both love our families. We both enjoy snuggling in our dens. We both relish social bonds and respect loyalty.
Called the “most plastic of species,” dogs exist in almost every size and shape imaginable. In addition, they occupy a wide occupational niche, from pampered lapdogs who give new meaning to the term “dog tired,” to courageous canines that patrol airline terminals looking for bombs, drugs and dangerous people.
Dogs make us feel good—and are good for us. Organizations like the Delta Society describe this as “the positive effect of pets on human health and well-being.” Our dogs relieve chronic pain, lift our spirits, sniff out cancer, detect impending heart attacks, seizures and migraines, lower our blood pressure and cholesterol levels, help us recover from devastating illness, and even improve our children’s IQ, as well as lowering their risk for adult allergies and asthma. Just think—the unconditional love, limitless affection and to-die-for loyalty of a well-chosen, well-trained, well-cared-for dog could be just what the doctor ordered!
But perhaps our dogs help us most of all by giving us an important outlet for our love. About six out of ten U.S. households have pets, whereas only three out of ten have children. Once our children grow up—and the nest empties— dogs take on even greater importance to millions of Americans who yearn to nurture. For we humans are an extremely social species with a
need
to nurture.
Yet in today’s world, many of us live alone, whether due to divorce, choosing to remain childless, surviving a spouse or partner, or having a far-flung extended family. And sadly, too much time spent alone can leave us sick— and even shorten our lives.
Lucky for us, our canine companions provide emotional rescue for everything from a relationship breakup or bad day at work to a bad hair day—or even a
no hair
day for those of us facing cancer treatment. Dogs love us for simply being who and what we are. They don’t care if we’re famous, powerful, rich, important people—we’re all that and more in their eyes.
At the end of the day, we may never know whether those liquid eyes shine for us or for the treat drawer, but when a tap-dancing, delighted frenzy of fur greets you at the door with a red-carpet welcome, it hardly seems to matter.
So, sit back, relax and let the love of dogs wash over you as you enjoy these charming, true tales. May they inspire you to be the person your dog thinks you are!
We would like to invite you to send us stories you would like to see published in future editions of
Chicken
Soup for the Soul.
We would also love to hear your reactions to the stories in this book. Please let us know what your favorite stories are and how they affected you.
Please send submissions to:
Chicken Soup for the Soul
P.O. Box 30880
Santa Barbara, CA 93130
Fax: 805-563-2945
You can also visit the
Chicken Soup for the Soul
Web site at:
We hope you enjoy reading this book as much as we enjoyed compiling, editing and writing it.
D
ogs are forever in the moment.
They are always a tidal wave of feelings, and
every feeling is some variant of love.
Cynthia Heimel
Albert Payson Terhune, the famed dog writer of the 1920s and 1930s who authored the Lassie books, often told this story about his friendWilson to illustrate the deep love that people and dogs share. It also shows how sometimes what seems to be in the best interest of all concerned may not apply when one of those concerned is a dog.
Wilson’s dog, Jack, was an energetic, six-year-old collie that would meet him every day at the trolley station when Wilson returned from work. This was a ritual that had begun when Jack was a pup. The dog knew the route to and from the station like the back of his paw—and following that route was the highlight of his day. So when Wilson changed jobs and had to move to California, he thought it best to leave Jack on his home turf in Philadelphia with a relative. He explained all this to the dog upon leaving and told him that they both would have to adjust to new homes.
But Jack didn’t want a new home. He would not stay with the family he’d been left with. He returned to Wilson’s old house, even though it was boarded up, and there he passed his solitary days beside an abandoned chair beneath the portico. But every evening, tail wagging, he trotted off to the trolley station. For as long as Jack had been in the world, Wilson had always taken the same trolley home from work, and Jack had been there to greet him. But evening after evening, there was no sign of the devoted dog’s master. Confused and sad, he would return alone to the deserted house.
The dog’s depression grew. He refused the food left for him, and as the days passed, he became thinner and thinner, his ribs noticeable even through his thick blond coat. But every evening, ever hopeful, he’d go to the station to meet the trolley. And every evening, he’d return to the porch more despondent than before.
No one knows why Jack’s new family didn’t contact Wilson, but Jack’s deteriorating condition did not go unnoticed. A friend who lived nearby was so upset by it that he took it upon himself to send a telegram to Wilson in California, informing him of the dog’s situation.
That was all it took.
Wilson bought a return train ticket immediately; he knew what he had to do. Upon arriving in Philadelphia, he waited several hours just so that he could take the same trolley that he always did when coming home. When it arrived at the station, sure enough, there was Jack, waiting and watching as the passengers got off. Looking and hoping. And then suddenly there
he
was, his beloved owner. His master had returned at last! Jack’s world was whole once more—and so was Wilson’s.
Wilson later told Terhune, “Jack was sobbing almost like a child might sob. He was shivering all over as if he had a chill. And I? Well, I blew my nose and did a lot of fast winking.”
Wilson took his devoted dog, Jack, back to California with him. They were never separated again.
Hester Mundis
Although Jessie, our eighty-pound black Doberman, looked menacing—she snarled at strangers and attacked backyard critters—she was extremely loyal and loving to our family. We wanted a second dog, but agreed that Jessie would be better off alone; we were afraid that jealousy might compel her to hurt any dog that got between her and us.
So when our son Ricky came home from school one day with an egg, we smelled trouble. Ricky’s egg came from his second-grade class project: incubating and hatching Rhone ducks. The egg had failed to hatch at school, so his teacher allowed him to bring it home. My husband and I didn’t think the egg was likely to hatch outside the incubator, so we let him keep it. Ricky placed the egg in a sunny patch of grass in the yard and waited.
