Although New Year resolutions don’t figure in my planning, there are a number of dog-related wishes I’d like to throw out there for 2020:
• For those with young puppies, I wish you all the patience you need to get your furry friend house trained and start getting the obedience training under way.
• For those who have elderly and/or sick dogs and are confused as to the best course of action to take, I wish you courage in making the right decision for your dog. If that means your dog needs to cross the rainbow bridge, I wish you peace and comfort and the ability to remember all the positive ways in which your dog enriched your life.
• For veterinarians, whose life is not always lollipops and rainbows, I wish you the strength and clarity of decision making to continue caring for man’s best friend.
• For those working/ volunteering in animal shelters, I wish you courage and as much stamina as you need during the upcoming months when historically so many puppies find themselves in shelters once the magic of receiving a puppy for Christmas has worn off.
• For Community Therapy Dogs, I wish our volunteers (current and yet to be met) thanks and appreciation for the time you take to help our community and to grow the awareness of what these great dogs can do.
• For police dogs, I wish you health and safety to continue protecting us against the criminal element in society.
• For detection dogs, I wish you clear nasal passages to search out drugs or to help detect cancer cells in humans.
• For service dogs, I wish you long and fruitful lives helping the less fortunate in society who depend on you to live a meaningful life. You are special, special dogs and God bless you for it.
• For search & rescue dogs, I wish you courage and stamina to continue doing the marvellous work you do, whether on a mountain side, a bomb site, at sea or in the back country. This wish goes to the search & rescue dog handlers as well.
• For military dogs, I wish you a safe journey when on duty and the care you need to return from deployment with all body parts intact.
• For people running puppy mills, I wish you a change of career sooner rather than later so we can stop this dog abuse once and for all.
• For dog trainers, I wish you all success in helping socialize and give obedience training so that dogs can be integrated into society in the most positive way.
• And to finish my “bakers’ dozen”, I wish you all, whether dog owners or not, a happy and prosperous 2020. Dogs are unique and amazing creatures and I wish everyone the opportunity to learn more about this species in the coming year. There’s a reason dogs are known as man’s best friend!
