We dont deserve dogs. Except we do.

Im currently reading a book on the topic of what dogs can teach us about the philosophy of life.

Inevitably, the experience of letting our dogs go came up.

Excerpt from The Word of by Dog by Mark Rowlands

Hugo loved his brothers, my sons, almost as much as he loved his bite sleeve. On the day of his death, we had told them a vet was coming to visit Hugo, but did not elaborate further. They were still young enough to assume that the vet was coming to make him better. Wanting to spare them, we had sent them upstairs to play while the vet did her work. The first injection was to render him unconscious rather than kill him. Sleep embraced him in seconds. In those few, fleeting, seconds of consciousness that remained in his life, Hugo managed to demonstrate what he had been all about. The pain dropped from his face, and his chin slowly sank to the ground, settling on the cool white tiles. At this very moment, there was a sound from upstairs. I don’t remember what it was. Maybe laughter. Maybe they were arguing. I remember the incongruity, but I don’t remember the noise precisely. As Hugo faded into darkness, he seemingly had one functioning body part remaining—his ear, specifically his left one. This ear shot bolt upright and pivoted in the direction of the sound. Are they all right? And then Hugo was gone. It was a heartbreakingly appropriate punctuation to a life that was defined by love. His life punctuated with his life’s essence. That is a death few can dream of.

This trigger-reminded me of a video that I have not thought about for ages now. It’s been 10 years since I first watched it. I still think it is one of the better things that has ever been posted on YouTube.

Warning: Dog lovers should not watch this video whist operating heavy machinery.