To really understand some words, we must know their opposites; for example, you cannot understand 'fast' without knowing 'slow'. The same goes of appreciating beauty, if you have never seen ugly. And likewise, you cannot understand good, without knowing bad. That is where our dogs come in....
We as dog-owners will experience different levels of bonding with our dogs. We have dogs that we love, then we have dogs that connect to us on a whole different level; they read our minds, they know our actions before we have even had more than a flicker of a thought of the action - they become a part of us. I define these as soul-dogs.
The Soul Dogs are almost always the 'bad dogs' or dogs that have been a struggle, or made us work way harder than we had intended. By pushing us and making us dig-deep to get them to become what we needed them to be, they truly teach us what 'good' means. And in the process of turning your monkey from a challenge to good, you will develop a bond that people with more normal dogs won't comprehend. You must experience both opposites of a word to really appreciate what the power of that word means. Most Soul Dogs forced that upon us.
It is only through experiencing and understanding bad that we can begin to appreciate the good. If you've only ever had good, you don't have a reference point to be able to fully appreciate exactly how great 'good' can be.
And when you do get to work through that with a dog, you will have a Soul-Dog that only those who have walked in your shoes will be able to comprehend.
Monique Anstee
Victoria, BC
www.naughtydogge.com
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