Time

My momma’s momma had the following poem on her bulletin board. It’s now on my momma’s board:

Time is..
Too Slow for those who Wait
Too Swift for those who Fear
Too Long for those who Grieve
Too Short for those who Rejoice
But for those who Love
Time is eternity.

It’s a lovely poem and oh, so true. I had mom look on the innerwebs for topics on “time”. There are so many songs, so many poems, and so many quotes. Humans. You are obsessed with time. The right time. The wrong time. Too much time. Not enough time. Good time. Bad time. Jeepers, you average 70+ years to your lives. Us dogs? 15 if we’re really lucky. Don’t you think WE should be a bit more worried about time than you?

So what is making me think about time today? Well, it’s Wally Wallflower. Wanna know Wally’s story? Wally was pulled from a pound not too far from where we got Gracie/Company. There wasn’t a lot of “time” left for him. So after a brief stint in a boarding facility, Wally has come to stay with us. He’s really not a bad guy. His name Wally-flower came honestly. I mean, sheesh, he’s been here almost two weeks and I haven’t had to beat him up. Ah, but I digress….. Do you want to know why Wally was at the pound to begin with? His “family” (and I use that loosely), his humans, said, “We don’t have TIME for him anymore”. I still can’t get my paws around it.

We share the same 24 hours. In 24 hours his humans couldn’t find time to take care of him? To feed him? To brush him? To walk him? To LOVE him? Let’s do some basic math. Ok, work. You gotta work (some of us dogs gotta work, too). It buys “skibs”. Let’s say his humans had to work. 12 hours is being very liberal. You have to sleep. 8 hours—my momma wishes. That still leaves 4 hours. You don’t have 30 minutes in that 4 hours for a walk? 5 minutes to scoop kibble in a dish and set it on the ground? Hey, you’re sitting there watching the big loud talking screen. Skritch a guy’s ears while you watch “The Bachelor (*whine*)”. 15 minutes. That’s less than an hour. Still too busy? Ya cook dinner right? Can’t we be part of the family while dinner is being fixed and served? We like being with the pack. Gotta mow the lawn in the summer? Let us help. We’re happy to walk or run alongside you. Gotta run errands? Unless it’s beastly hot out, we’d love to come with. Then we could stop at a dog park for 20 minutes!

I know there are circumstances that cause life to change. Remember Gus? His human’s situation changed and they realized they didn’t have time either to give Gus the life he deserves. They may not have had TIME for him, but they still cared for him. He was groomed. He was vetted. He was fed. He was kept inside. They made appropriate arrangements for him to be in a good home. Nope, Wally was left outside most likely. Wally hadn’t been to the doctor. Wally’s furs were unkempt. They dumped Wally at a pound. “We don’t have time for him”. Wally had time for them…..

I’m sure you’re thinking “but I can’t let my pooch be with me while I mow. She’ll misbehave”. Want to know a secret? The more TIME you spend with your pup, the better they’ll be. How about a show of paws as to who has human children? When they were 2 years old did they understand all the rules? Could you leave them alone? Did they do exactly as you expected? Well of course not. I’m sure some of you out there think that your 21 year olds are still not trained well enough! But my point is that the more TIME you give your dog the better your dog will be.

“For those who love, time is eternity…” We dogs give you all of our time. All of it. Can you not give us just a fraction of yours? We’ll both be better for it.

Thanks for reading everyone. I wish time and happiness to reign on you today!