A Dog's life: Dharma's at the ASPCA

(.............Sweet Pea and I, Grace and Bagel, with our friends Bayla and Monique...............)

I had her off leash in the park. In a shot she was gone, flew... mere inches away from a Raccoon at noon!! I was still half a mile back huffing and puffing behind her. Oh Gwad! Who the hell sees a Raccoon midday in a New York City park, Harlem no less. Alarms everywhere in my big head. Bagel I screamed over and over like I had been bit, Rabid and dead. With the last desperate please no! BAGELLLLLLL! scream plea command bellow, (cause she was about the grab it), she screeches to halt, looks at me and there was nothing but sheer glee on her face as the Raccoon barely makes it up the tree. Then there was the time in Montauk when she chased after a deer and didn't return all day, but that's another story.You get the idea, Bagel was a handful.

A friend of mine lost her dog this week and it got me thinking.....

Sweet Pea arrived at my home late one weekday evening as a favor. (Beware of favors in the guise of dogs.....it's always fatal.) You see....my friend ( another one) Juliette who was a Vet Tech asked could I keep a foster dog a few days at my home until she could place her. Why not, it was only for a few days. In she walked, a mama sister girl Pit Bull, surveyed every room and stole my heart. Then came The Bagel, a 9 month old puppy we took Sweet Pea to choose at the ASPCA (because she needed company, why not? how bad could it be?) Who ran away every chance she got, a ninja commando at the quick get away when no one was looking. I met every neighbor, rescue society, and animal protection services in a 5 mile radius in Harlem and Upstate NY. A brindled pit bull greyhound mix she could leap fences with a single bound. Of course her older sister would report when she ran away or smack her across the face when a bother. Then my daughter was born.... Bagel ran around her jumping leapfrog in circles, while Sweet Pea the gentle giant was the nursemaid.

Love....I was thinking, I have never loved or been loved by any beings as ardently, as softly and fiercely as my dogs and my child.

I grew up in a household with pets. 2 dogs 3 cats or visa versa. I even tried to keep a wild squirrel as a pet when I was nine. I had to turn him loose because he and I were nearly shredded in pieces miserable. There was Butch the white Anatlion Shepherd dog who must have been Satan's child..got hit by a car. He had a hole in his head which my grandmother cured with cement and disinfectant ( there was no money for the vet) while she said the rosary because as mean as he was we would be devastated if he died....so he lived. Scobby, who was part hound would answer to my neighbors as they called to him like an old friend in passing just to hear his joyous howling yodel. Then Bass, Tinker bell, Biali, Yin Yan (cats) my grandmother had a parrot ( Baby) she raised from a of course a baby and the list goes on and on. And now I may digress a bit but flow with me......

Purpose: the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc. We spend much of our lives defining our purpose, searching for it, questioning it, striving for it or denying it. Some of us are fortunate enough to live it others not quite seeing the way. Some people call it Dharma: the cosmic order in accordance with the universe. I believe its the quiet knowing of where you belong without object or derision,it simply is. Unfortunately most of us are never quiet enough to behold...the knowing or brave enough even.

Dogs are Dharma. If you look at your dog (or cat or hamster) .... their sole purpose in life is to sleep, eat, play and be happy and by extension they make us happy. There is always a presence about their present. The here the now the you the me the we the ball the bone the dish the food the scratch the hug. Pure and simple the present. Theirs is a no judgement zone, no questions, no double meanings. If they looked at you funny they looked at you funny...deal with it.

When it was time for my girls to go it was in agreement because we were a pack. I've tried many times to pinpoint that moment when we knew to decide and we let go. It feels like love, it feels like they hold our hands once more and say ok human you can do it. "I've been teaching you dummy so pay attention." " I've taught you to love, remember love, remember joy to be in the present, you saw me lick my balls a million times and what exactly was the purpose...yes we get bored, angry or scared but my purpose was simply to wash myself". See the moments as they are and don't start creating crazy meanings in your head. Your purpose is to love plain and simple. Be of service. In every moment of my dogs life they were in love even at their passing.

I was never more present or of service than at the passing of my girls. They taught me well. I am not an overly emotional person. But I do remember I was not ashamed or inhibited to cry. As the leader of the pack I howled. As the agreements were made between us. They guided me with quiet reassurance as goodbyes were said. I bawled like I had lost a part of me in the waiting room, in the car, in the busy NY streets to my house. Because as the leader of the pack I had been given the strength and freedom to bear witness to the passing of my sisters. Their last act of service was to give me the presence of mind and soul to be present. Thats why we love so purely with them. A Dog's dharma is love.

If you have forgotten your purpose go to the ASPCA. A friend is waiting for a home and they will help you...Dummy!

#Dogd #lifstyle #inspirational #DianneKRamirez