"You become responsible forever for what you have tamed."

                   ...Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"People use you and pretend they don't, while dogs use you in complete honesty because they have no choice, and they have not an ounce of deceit in their soul nor self-consciousness about any of this."

Roger Caras, A Dog Is Listening

"Agreeable friends-they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."

George Elliot

"My love, a love that's through and through.  For my loyal friend, my dog, that's you."

Anonymous

"I know God would never give me something that I could not handle.  I just wish he didn't trust me so much."

                              Mother Theresa

"a pet is never truly forgotten until it is no longer remembered."

                                     Lacie Petitto
      Submitted by Salvador Petitto

Man's Best Teacher

Wisdom usually does not fall from high places.  The mighty and the splendid have taught me little.  I have learned more from my dog than from all the great books I have read.  The wisdom of my dog is the product of his inability to conceal his wants.  When he yearns to be loved, there is no pouting in the corner.  There are no games entitled "Guess what is the matter with me."  He puts his head on my lap, wags his tail and looks up at me with kind eyes, waiting to be petted.  No professor or sage ever told me I might live a more successful life if I simply asked for love when I needed it.

Gerry Spence
How to Argue and Win Every Time
Submitted by Roy J. Carter

"No one loves you unconditionally as your beloved pet."
                                    Cynthia S. Dobesh, FL

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die.

                     Mary Frye (1932)

Submitted by Heather Simoes

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue."-Anonymous "

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful." -Ann Landers

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." -Will Rogers 

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." -Ben Williams 

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." -Josh Billings 

"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person." -Andrew A. Rooney 

"We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made." -M.Facklam 

"Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate."-Sigmund Freud 

"If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons." -James Thurber 

"A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down." -Robert Benchley 

"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult." -Rita Rudner 

"Dogs need to sniff the ground; it's how they keep abreast of current events. The ground is a giant dog newspaper, containing all kinds of late-breaking dog news items, which, if they are especially urgent, are often continued in the next yard." Dave Barry 

"Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog." -Franklin P. Jones 

"My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog money."- Joe Weinstein 

"Outside of a dog, a book is probably man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." -Groucho Marx 

"Ever consider what they must think of us?I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!" -Anne Tyler 

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." -Robert A. Heinlein 

"Ask of the beasts and they will teach you the beauty of this earth."   
                       St. Francis of Assisi

And if I go, while you are still here...
Know that I still live on,
Vibrating to a different measure,
Behind a thin veil that you cannot see through.
You will not see me, so you must have faith.
I will wait there for the time when we can soar together again, both aware of each other.
Until then, live your life to the fullest.
And when you need me, just whisper my name in your heart,
...................I will be there.

This poem was written for a little dog named Bean and his Mom wanted to share it with us all.  Thank you.

Bean

I said “good bye, I love you”,
When I saw that look in your eyes
It was the type of look you give someone
When you know these are your last goodbyes.

You were just a dog some might say
But I know they’re all wrong
You were more than a dog
You were my best friend, and
Now dear friend it is going to be long,
Before I can hold you in my arms once again.

It is hard to put in words how you made me feel
But when I heard your foot steps charging to me,
There is nothing in the world that could’ve made me more happy

You were so small, yet
You had more energy than any dog I had ever met
You were so strong.. and Ill never forget,
All the fun times we shared together
 

You were with me for so short of a time
But you taught me so much
I never knew I could love anyone the way I loved you
All I had to do was touch
Your soft fur and I knew everything would be ok

I don’t know what I will do without you
I feel like there’s a huge hole in me
Once so filled with joy and glee
Now so empty and cold,
I'm sure your spirit is still with me and I hope you know
I will have and better dog and
Their will always be a place in my heart for you..

Wherever you are, I hope you are happy
And have a nice fuzzy bed to sleep in
You can be free now.. no more play pin
Wait for me bean.. Barbra Jean..
I will see you again..
When my time comes I will look forward to seeing you
And we can be together once more
I will never forget you..
You are forever a part of me
As I am a part of you
Don’t worry though.. I’m not going to be blue
All I’ll have to do is whisper your name to myself
And look for ward to the day.. when I will once again get to hold you

 -Christina Rae Almeida

They say there is no reason,
they say that time will heal,
but neither time or reason,
will change the way we feel.

No one knows the heartache,
that lies behind our smile,
no one knows how many times,
we've broken down and cried.

We want to tell you something,
so there won't be any doubt,
you were so wonderful to think of,
but so hard to do without.

-Anon.

Thanks to Emma Stow for sharing this lovely poem with us.

I am your dog, and I have a little something I'd like to whisper in your
ear. I know that you humans lead busy lives. Some have to work, some
have children to raise. It always seems like you are running here and
there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand things
in life. Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer. See
the way my dark brown eyes look at yours? They are slightly cloudy now.
That comes with age. The gray hairs are beginning to ring my soft
muzzle.

You smile at me; I see love in your eyes. What do you see in mine? Do
you see a spirit? A soul inside, who loves you as no other could in the

world? A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing
for just a simple moment of your time? That is all I ask. To slow down,
if even! for a few minutes to be with me. So many times you have been
saddened by the words you read on that screen, of others of my kind,
passing. Sometimes we die young and oh so quickly, sometimes so suddenly
it wrenches your heart out of your throat. Sometimes, we age so slowly
before your eyes that you may not even seem to know until the very end,
when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and cataract clouded eyes.
Still the love is always there, even when we must take that long sleep,
to run free in a distant land.

I may not be here tomorrow; I may not be here next week. Someday you
will shed the water from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief
fills their souls, and you will be angry at yourself that you did not
have just "One more day" with me. Because I love you so, your sorrow
touches my spirit and grieves me. We have NOW, together. So come, sit
down here next to me on the floor, and look deep into my eyes. What do
you see? If you look hard and deep enough we will talk, you and I, heart
to heart. Come to me not as "alpha" or as "trainer" or even "Mom or
Dad," come to me as a living soul and stroke my fur and let us look deep
into one another's eyes, and talk.

I may tell you something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I
may tell you something profound about myself, or even life in general.
You decided to have me in your life because you wanted a soul to share
such things with. Someone very different from you, and here I am. I am a
dog, but I am alive. I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can
revel in the differences of our spirits and souls. I do not think of you
as a "Dog on two feet" -- I know what you are. You are human, in all
your quirkiness, and I love you still.

Now, come sit with me, on the floor. Enter my world, and let time slow
down if only for 15 minutes. Look deep into my eyes, and whisper to my
ears. Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will know your true
self. We may not have tomorrow, and life is oh so very short.

--Love, (on behalf of canines everywhere)

Author Unknown

Our special thanks to Beverly Robinson for sharing this beautiful poem with us all.
 

If you have a poem, quote or just a thought you would like to share, send them to Sharon and we'll share them with our visitors.