Gracie is not our dog. She lives next door. Imagine every time you drive into the garage, you see this little face looking at you, on the other side of the invisible fence. Imagine the whining noise she emits. As you can see, this dog is *clearly* starving and neglected. (Yeah, right!)
We keep a box of small Milkbones in our laundry room and usually once (sometimes twice) a day, we'll give Gracie half of a small Milkbone. When we moved here over 2 years ago, we asked her owners if that was okay.
Gracie was rescued from an abusive home, so it took a while for her to trust us. The Milkbones helped a lot with that. After a few weeks, she started to let us pet her. Nowadays, every time one of us pulls into the driveway, she comes running and the "show" that I described begins.
After we give Gracie her Milkbone, we usually pet her for a while. If we stop, she'll nudge her head under our hand to get us to start again. She'll even play with my daughter and give her kisses. Sometimes she'll roll on her back to get us to scratch her belly.
Years ago, we had a black lab mutt (a "pound puppy") named Satch (after rock guitarist Joe Satriani - hey, we were kids, barely out of college.) She was the first and only pet I've ever had. I remember how good it felt every day to see her bounding at me in excitement when I came home from work. I remember how relaxing it felt to pet her. However, when my oldest son was 4 (and Satch was 8), we discovered he has a dog allergy. Satch lived over 15 years, but due to the allergy, we've never gotten another pet. That's why I really appreciate Gracie next door.
A quick Google search yields an impressive list of the benefits of owning a pet. The following list is compiled from Animal Planet and the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention.
Pets can:
- Lower your blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and therefore lower the risk of a heart attack
- Boost your immunity
- Improve your social skills (can even be "date magnets!")
- Lead to better recovery rates for those who have experienced a heart attack
- Increase opportunities for exercise - dog owners who walk their pets are less likely to be obese
- Combat feelings of loneliness
Just being around pets on occasion has its benefits as well. The Mayo Clinic website says therapy dogs can help healing and lessen depression and fatigue.
We may not be Gracie's owners, but the small amount of time we spend with her brings a lot of joy to our lives. I loved Satch tremendously, but I honestly don't miss the responsibility of owning a dog. I doubt I will ever get another one - and certainly not while our oldest son lives with us. However, I try to never say "never." In the meantime, I will continue to daily spend time with sweet Gracie. Just thinking about her is relaxing me already!
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