Mark, I want a dog
Really, are you sure, it’s a lot of work
Now or never, a month between jobs
Find one, find a lot and let’s see

A road trip for a dog
Four litters, 1200 miles, two days
We may not find one, but we’ll try
East, south, west, a litter all

First litter was a barn of dogs
Puppies are always cute, but which,
Outside litter is not what we want
On we went, into the city

Another pack of dogs
Cute and warm but none that stuck
The click, the attachment, the right one
Not found and more road to hit

The last litter, isn’t it always…a dog
Only two left but fuzzy and cute like them all
One damaged but needing and fun
One serious but warm and wanting

Marriage is compromise, so is a dog
I like the male; strong, excited and demanding
She liked the one, the one who sat and loved
I succumbed, loving is always the winner

A long drive home with a fluffy dog
Sad and lost, pee pad underneath
The front floor was not ideal
But neither were the demands to come

At home, lost owner, lost dog
Trying to do right is not always right
The right size crate, bed, bowl
Knowing all and knowing nothing

The first nights are hard for a dog
Doing right is training from the start
Watching every move, catching every mistake
OUTSIDE, quick, always to the same spot

3am, whining, scared, unknowing, our dog
What have I done, what have we done,
For some, a dog’s life is less important
For us, a promise, a commitment

For some, a life of less is a dog
For us, life is a promise, one to take whole hearted
We took, we cherished, we watched over it

A gift is only as valuable as the appreciation
Peeing, Pooping, playing, eating, a dog
I imagine it not much different than a child

All work, cleaning and effort is rewarded
The love and warmth given lying together
A couch, a place to sit, a taboo for a dog

For me, a place to share, and place to love
Together we cuddle, we tussle
Human hair, dog fur, clouds of joy

A gift and responsibility is a dog
If we are to a have a dog, then work
Make the life of our dog our life,
Train, interact, walk, involve and travel

There is no second rate member, a dog
Of my family, all must learn to participate
all must learn to behave
a part of society means knowing the way

Every day, we would train, man and dog
15 minutes of serious focus, 1 hour of play
A lot can be taught and shared
A little time each day, a lot of time every year

Daily focus and effort of a dog
Created daily joy and relief for a man
I lived a hard life, she lived a restricted life
together we found 75 minutes of real life

A bag of treats for a bag of tricks for my dog
Wait, Stay, Hike, Heel, Backup and Figure Eight
The limitation was mine
The joy and happiness was ours

Pride is a powerful thing for a dog
To know what you are here to do
to do it well and know
Do I really live a better life

I learned a lot from my dog
Mostly I learned to listen
It is hard to hear a foreign tongue
It is easy to ignore and complain

Language is words for man but not a dog
The look, the posture, the whimper
to understand was difficult for me at first
I had to learn to listen

How often do we listen less than dogs
Sympathy and empathy are words of perception
Listening is so much more
So, I listened, I learned and I am better

It was important to have my dog
Always with me, able to go
I did not want the dog of my childhood
Locked away, unable to be a part of my life

The rules for my dog
were rules of participation, rules of society
I did not create the rules, I followed
So did my dog

Once learned, rules gave freedom to my dog
Stores, travel, walking all became shared
Joys of togetherness absent the confine of leashes
We became friends contained within the box of society

A name is important, it defines a dog
Are you an equal and given a “real” name
are you a toy, given a name of an object
you are my friend and family – Hannah