Thursday, September 3, 2009

Loyalty...lessons learned from a lonely, cyber-rivalric dog.



Cheryl Wyatt here...

I have an ever-growing list of attributes that I keep for the purpose of fashioning heroes and heroines I think people will love. Stuff like: Brave. Patient. Heroic. Funny. Perceptive. Caring. Noble. Integritous. Loyal and a bunch of others.

I was thinking about the attribute of loyalty one day last week when I was wandering around my house looking for something at two am. (don't ask-sigh).

Anyway, we have a tiny dog who has very set times he likes to do things. Once eight PM hits, the dog heads to his bed for sleep...or tries to. And he will normally sleep until about seven in the morning. This little guy loves his sleep.

BUT, when I'm on deadline I tend to get nocturnal. I'm a night person anyway but when I'm on deadline and the book is flowing, it's not unusual for me to stay up until the wee hours of the morning writing because I'm way more productive at night.

Thankfully I have a supportive husband who understands my body's rhythms and also, he knows I worked night shift for a quarter of a century, so my body is accustomed to working at night.

My dog's body, however, is not. Yet he will wobble out of his bed, bleary-eyed and stumbly to follow me around the house no matter how tired he is. And at times the poor thing is about to fall over from fatigue, yet he will not stop following me.

Sometimes he stands so close, right on my heels, literally, so if I make a sudden turn, I end up stumbling over him. LOL! But I love this puppy and I love what God has been teaching me about loyalty through him.

I have even tried to carry him back to his bed and tuck him in his favorite blanket. But this dog's faithful loyalty will not let him let me out of his sight no matter how sleepy and wobbly he is. He watches my every move and never strays more than four inches from my side.

He always waits for permission to jump on my lap, but when I pat my knee and say, "Come!" he goes completely berzerk with puppy joy. His nubby tail wags so fast it's nothing but a blur on the edge of his bottom. And he makes these little
contented noises that I couldn't replicate if I tried. Not that I'd want to. But this dog is so loyal, fiercely loyal.

He sometimes gets jealous over me using the computer. In fact when he gets really lonely for my affection he will actually run across my keyboard. LOL! Or drop his favoriate toy on it if he's in the mood to play. And if I keep typing, he will actually come stand on my keyboard and look me right in the eyes. LOL!

He thinks he's ten foot tall and bullet proof and if a stranger comes near me, he will snarl and snip like a lion in attack-mode.

This dog's loyalty humbled me the other day when he was clicking behind he through the hall.

How often do I not put forth the effort to press in and connect with God when I'm tired? Nearly always.

I do connect, but when I'm tired or sleepy or hungry, I can think of little else but my bed, a hot bath and FOOD. Of course it doesn't help that I have low blood sugar and at times get grumpy.

But still, I do wish that I were as loyal to staying in God's presence as my little dog is in staying in mine. He loves me. There's no doubt.

And God loved me enough to send this little messenger to teach me about loyalty.

I'd love to hear about a pet who meant a lot to you, past or present. Comment away!

Patter on, :-)

Cheryl

13 comments:

  1. Cheryl,
    I love dogs and cats. They add so much to our lives. My cat V-8 (for his purring engine) often will lie across my lap between me and my laptop. Makes typing a challenge!

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  2. V-8...I love the name! How cute.

    Isn't it funny how they fight the keyboard for our attention? LOLOL!

    Hugs
    Cheryl

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  3. Cheryl I think our dogs are related. I mean Mikey my Yorkie thinks the couch is his. No ones but his. lol Except when he wants attention and well then you have to stop everything to do whatever it is that he is wanting. He is very very jealous of the computer as well as books. He lays down on the couch at around 8 and then goes to bed with me or DH whichever is the last one to head to the bedroom and sleeps until whoever is the last one to get out of the bed gets up. He thinks he is human. lol

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  4. He's just too cute for words.

    My loyal little buddy died last October and I sure miss him. Like your dog, mine followed me from room to room. Unlike your dog, Mugsy would go to bed but he had this adorable habit of raising his eyebrows at me as if to say, "Don't you know it's bedtime?" And when we stayed up too late and the eyebrows didn't work, he would change positions and collapse again with a loud sigh. It was just too funny.

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  5. Linda, your dog sounds ike mine! We have a puppy, well she still thinks she's a puppy anyway! Lol! We had a 12 year old cocker spaniel, Molly Bell Star. We'd had her for 7 years. She had to be put down due to kidney failure. She was also almost completely blind and deaf. We loved her, so we felt it was not worth keeping her alive in pain just for ourselves. It was sad, but we rebounded quick with Maddie. We couldn't stand not having any dog in the house. Maddie is a handful, but we love her! She's a lab and husky mix. Quite a change! Lol...
    Hannah

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  6. Jessiecue, he does sound so much like our dog. LOL! That's so cute about him thinking he's human.

    My cousin's dog thinks he's a cat. He grooms himself just like their cats and he has taken on all of their cat mannerisms I guess from being surrounded by them.

    It's really adorable to watch him lick/clean his paws like a cat then wipe/bathe his nose/face, etc.

    Thanks for dropping by and sharing!

    Hugs
    Cheryl

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  7. Linda,

    Aww! That's so cute about him raising his eyebrows at you. And hysterical about him collapsing with a loud sigh. My dog sighs when I won't play with him. He stares at me for a couple of seconds and then emits this short huffing sound. It's too cute.

    I hate that you lost your little buddy. Pets just become like part of the family don't they? I still miss my childhood animals and get to thinking about them at times and shed a tear or two.

    Thanks for coming by!

    Hugs
    Cheryl

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  8. Hannah,

    It sounds like your dog had a blessed life though. Spaniels are SO absolutely adorable.

    I bet the lab/husky is a beautiful dog. What color are Maddie's eyes? Our lab's eyes were Midnight black and most Huskies I've seen have tha wolfish silver-steel-grey-ish-blue color.

    I'll bet your dog is gorgeous.

    Labs are such good dogs. We had one for 17 years. I'm honoring him in the book I'm writing now. He had a serious donut addiction. LOL!

    Thanks for stopping by and telling us about your pets.

    Hugs
    Cheryl

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  9. Lol! That's really funny about the donuts! Really cool about the book : )

    Maddie has one blue-grey eye like you described and one brown eye. We think she's really cute!
    Hannah

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  10. What a sweet dog, Cheryl!! I love the photo.

    I love my babies! Two dogs--chocolate lab and a mix. The mix (Duke) is at my feet now. He's always at my feet. Sits right on them while I dry my hair. And he's not small! He's 40 lbs.

    He also gets mad if I don't go to bed. He lasts until about 2 AM, sitting here by my feet, but then it's like an alarm goes off in his head and he starts whining for his bed.

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  11. Also meant to say to Lyn that I just LOVE the name V-8!!

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  12. Dogs, cats and also birds out the window are great for us,,I have 1 lab,2 chiwauwaus and a large window in my bedroom that is right next to the computer so my husband has put several birdhouses and suet cages plus a finch feeder which is very busy here in dubuque,iowa i get the orioles,hummingbirds,cardinals,large woodpeckers,finches and many more ,,Lived in the Bay Area for 47 years and never had even a bird house so this is great. My dogs don't even bark at any of the birds they even watch ,,,So reading my books and watching is sometimes a challenge but fun,,,,

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  13. pt, I LOVE Labs. Had one for 17 years growing up. He was like part of the family.

    Bless you for taking care of all those animals.

    Hugs
    Cheryl

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