Canine Wisdom
by Michael Finley
Copyright (c) 1998 by Michael Finley
A friend I don't see often recently asked me what my writing project is about. A word of advice to friends of writers: ask any question but that one. We are the last ones to know such a thing. Fortunately, this question came late in the writing, so I had more of an answer than I would have had earlier. I said it was a book about the surprises experience people when they get dogs. It's not what you think it will be, and it will take you to places you have never been.
This friend then went one step further, and asked me to summarize what those surprises might be. In response I created this list of nuggets of canine wisdom. Canine wisdom is more than the names of two kinds of teeth. It describes a variety of knowledge that dogs have, and that people can acquire only through dogs.
All the time I wanted Beau to be a bodhisattva dog, and complaining that he wasn't, he was exhibiting all these traits to me. I offer them to you as a cheat-sheet of all I have learned.
On Purpose. Our job is to be good. So be good. When you screw up, forgive yourself. Others will, too.
On Belonging. We are not alone; we belong to one another. We are not "friends"; we own one another. Every important thing is tethered or leashed to something or someone else. Our breed shapes our outlook. Our litter shapes our behavior. Our families shape the schedule and flavor of our lives.
On Joy. We ennoble ourselves through work and sacrifice, but we find our greatest meaning in happiness, in the moment. And there is no greater happiness than moving with the pack you belong to.
On Obedience. Don't measure it by the number of tricks you can perform on command. The obedience that really matters is about compliance in crisis -- Stay, No, Good.
On Autonomy. We're domesticated. Though we feel the call of the wild, we also know when we are being called home. Some things we can do for ourselves. Other things, we need the other for.
On Friendship. To be a true friend to someone is to be loyal to them. A friend is someone who, when you need them and say come to me, is there before you, awaiting your next command.
On Solitude. The anxiety of waiting is that you never know when waiting ends. The best of us is standby equipment. To be alone is to be hollow, and the time till we are no longer alone stretches silently out like desert sand. Be sad, but be calm. And wait.
On Suffering. Turn down your dials and be grateful for small comforts. A drink of water, the patting hand of someone you love. When there is nothing you can do, there is nothing you can do. The pain will either pass, or you will die, and the pain will pass.
On Dying. You see it everywhere around you. It is part of living, not something to torment your dreams. You sniff it, you accept it, and you go about your business.
On Love. It is not unconditional. It thrives on goodness and reciprocity. But when it is there it enlivens every breath you take, and every step you take. In a lifetime of moments chained together, being loved puts a soul into us, and makes everything matter.
On Faith. You can never be sure what will happen next, if the beloved will return in a minute or in an hour. Faith in things unseen carry us through these times of worry. The loved one will return. Be patient, then, and nap until the golden moment.
A free gift awaits visitors to Michael Finley's web site at http://mfinley.com. Mike is co-author of this spring's eagerly waited book Transcompetition.
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