The View From 4 Legs

Staring at the worn chain link that defines my world, I gaze to the distance. Dreaming, yearning for a better place. I pace. I bark. I talk to anyone who will listen. I need you. I need a better place.

The chain that keeps me from leaving. The chain that keeps me from living. The chain that keeps me from loving. Fixed to my neck. Fixed to a wooden box. My world is 8 feet long.

The heat. The cold. The rain. I endure each with only a worn wooden house to cover my head. I pant. I shiver. The seasons come and go. And come and go. I need a better place.

Walks. Cuddles. Companionship. I don’t have them. But I know them. I had them once. I had that better place. I had a person. A person who “got” me.

I have been discarded. I have been forgotten. Yet I still have love to give. I still have dreams of walks and hugs and green fields through which I might someday run.

Responsibility. I am a responsibility. I am a forgotten responsibility. I am a chained dog.

Responsible pet ownership is love. It is caring. It is a warm bed. It is walks under falling leaves. It is romps in the snow with a towel to wipe my cold feet. It is poop bags attached to my leash, on which I sniff the messages my friends have left for me on fire hydrants. It is medication when I feel lousy. It is hugs. It is a warm home. It is holding me and talking quietly to me when my days are over. It is a lifetime commitment.

Make me your responsibility. I will keep my end of the bargain. I won’t judge you. I will greet you happily each and every day. I will love you unconditionally. Forever.

Responsible pet ownership is forever. And ever.