Canine Classroom

That picture of Maddie, yesterday, in our little trip down piggy memory lane stirred up a lot of canine memories for me.  I have had the good fortune of sharing most of my life with a dog.   Certainly, dogs have taught me some valuable life lessons.

Perhaps the greatest of these is unconditional love and acceptance.    Dogs shower us with affection and embrace us as their family, oblivious to our shortcomings and flaws.  If there is one thing that I can count on every single day - it's that my dogs will be happy to see me and unabashedly convey that fact.  There's nothing that boosts my spirit more than being greeted by three enthusiastic pals with wagging tails!

Dogs live in the present - seemingly oblivious to past or future.  Their mindfulness teaches us to appreciate life's simple joys and engage fully with our surroundings and loved ones.  By embracing the here and now, we, too, can rediscover happiness and contentment.

Because of the ability to live purely in the present moment, dogs are able to forgive and let go of grudges and past hurts with ease.  They teach us that the only way to move forward in life is to free ourselves from emotional burdens.

Dogs also embody loyalty and devotion.  Their unwavering commitment to their "pack" reminds us of the importance of nurturing relationships - strengthening our bonds and building lasting connections.

We've enjoyed the companionship of many dogs over the years on the farm.  We moved to the farm with our beloved Newfoundland, Maddie...

and our quirky Bernese Mountain dog, Sadie...

Before long, three more dogs, rescues, made their way into our hearts to spend the rest of their lives here on the farm.  Some of you will remember Hickory, our tiny senior...

and Oakley, 

(best farm dog ever - with a penchant for tangling with porcupines...

Many of you will remember Brown Sammie...

And if you haven't met them before... our current canine companions are Annie (11)...

Chester (7) ...

And of course, Forrest (1)...

There's a saying... "I want to be the person that my dog thinks I am."  It's something to which we could all aspire!  Or maybe better yet, we should look at each other the way our dogs look at us.  What a wonderful world it would be if we all greeted each other with the human equivalent of a wagging tail!

PS:  if you are reading this via Substack and miss a day - please check your spam folder.  If you happen to find that Substack email there, mark it as "not spam" to prevent it from happening again.  Still trying to work out the kinks with this new service.