I had a long walk with a friend this morning and inevitably we spoke of her elderly dog. I have three friends who have dogs at the end of their lives. These dogs are beautiful souls and I love them. I've known them since they were puppies, and I do not minimize how upsetting it is to lose your dog. It also seems to be a kind of rehearsal for us; when do we let go, when is the suffering too great, how to pay attention to what your dog is telling you. I try to be a friend they can feel free to discuss this stage with: sometimes it feels embarrassing to be sad about a dog, rather than a human. But those of us who love animals understand.
Even in the dog world, now, there are vets who want every kind of intervention, and those who let what is happening unfold without too much interference. So being assertive around your pet is a kind of practice for being assertive for our own health care. Sometimes it is easier to see these issues through an animal filter, than face them with a human we love or ourselves.
We hope for kindness and gentleness in all things, and we learn that to find out what those consist of in certain situations is a struggle. If we come back to our intention of causing less suffering, and take our cues from our dog, perhaps we have a better chance at making the leaving as beautiful as the dog herself.
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