Valentine Week Special: A puppy's unconditional love!

I hope you enjoyed the video I posted last night! That video just shows how unconditional a puppy's (or for that matter even an adult dog's) love can be. And sometimes we just can't capture some of the precious moments in pictures because they happen so instantaneously or we're just too indulged enjoying those loving moments. That's why I thought of writing about some of those special moments today. They're numerous so I am not sure if I can even type them all in just one blog post! I'll try my best to do a good job with this special Valentine article and I hope you enjoy reading this.

So here it goes:

The first time we met Walley, we were just spellbound to see him with his brothers and sisters. They were all snuggled together and making all sorts of puppy noises. But the cutest thing was how they would sometimes stand on top of each other to get a better glimpse of us. The love that litter-mates have for each other is such a beautiful thing to see and so heartwarming! We were awestruck when we met Walley and his siblings. They were such a cute pack! When we met Walley for the first time, he was just a couple weeks old, but he had all the love in the world to share with us. He showered us with his kisses and cozily laid in our arms for warmth and affection ( it was raining so hard when we met him). His love for us began the day we met him and he won our hearts instantly with his pure, flawless, unconditional love.

When we brought Walley home, a few weeks later, it was like bringing home a package full of infinite love; love that just never ends! Elwyn and I can never stop talking about Walley's love for us because it's so perfect just like God's love. There are no questions asked, no judgements passed, no terms or expectations and there is always instant forgiveness for every wrong doing. That's a dog's unconditional love towards mankind! Can we say the same about ourselves? God who created dogs (no matter what breed) was so kind to give us the company of dogs and enjoy it, cherish it and realize some day that we have so much to learn from a dog and it's love and in the process of learning, appreciate their love for humans and thank God eternally for creating this amazing species of life. Walley's love for us changed our lives for the better. The world we live in is just so demanding, at times we felt it was so overbearing. But with Walley at home now, all is well in the world! His love towards us has in many ways taught us to take a chill pill when things get too rough and we can't even think straight. Here are just a few examples of how our Golden Retriever pup, Walley doesn't even have to try too hard to straighten out our day:

1. The Morning madness vs Walley's kindness

When we wake up in the morning, Walley is already awake and wagging his tail to greet us "Good Morning". Could we have asked for a better kicking start? Even a cup of coffee can't charge us the way Walley does. He's full of energy even before we give him his breakfast. Elwyn and I are usually rushing in the morning, running around the house, putting things in place and getting ready for work. All through this time, Walley sits patiently, watching us get ready and you must remember that he hasn't even eaten yet! After we are dressed for work, he eats his food and we walk him outside to do his business. Patience is Walley's essence. It's as if Walley knows that we have a hard and long day ahead of us and his patience will make our morning more smooth-running. Did we train him to be this way? No! He is just a very understanding and caring pup by nature and both of us have been forced to learn the art of patience and understanding from him. If he could speak, he would tell us, "Slow down and take it easy guys, I'm in no rush here. I can wait. " And all we can tell him is "Thank you Walley for being so kind to us early in the morning although sometimes we can't even spare ten minutes to play with you before we leave to work".

2. The Grand Evening Welcome

Ah! I always wanted to write about this one but today's story has the perfect place for it. I come home earlier in the evening than Elwyn does so I get to experience this first:-) When we come home, Walley is always ready, standing up and wagging his tail to say " Hey you're back, I was so bored without you, thank God you're home, I was waiting for you!" His tail and smiling face says it all!! First thing when I let him out of his crate, he has a ritual stretching of his whole body, followed by the immense love and affection he had saved for us all day! He makes all sorts of puppy noises to show how much he missed us during the day. Now he has learned to give us " High Fives" along with various other paw lessons ( that's a whole another blog for me) so his welcome also includes giving me a "High Five" and showing me his paws to kiss them or sometimes to clean them (considering the mess he makes of himself in his crate on some days, usually Mondays! , I don't have to explain why). Of course by now, he's very hungry so I give him his dinner. But after he has eaten dinner and has walked outside, he's ready for a round of play. He fetches his favorite toy to play with me and the play goes on until Elwyn comes home. When Elwyn rings the buzzer from downstairs, Walley leaves all his play ( no matter how much he's enjoying it) and runs towards the door to greet him. Both Walley and I wait at the door to welcome Elwyn when he arrives home. When Walley hears the elevator ring on our floor, he's already leaping with joy! He runs swiftly towards the elevator to greet Elwyn. His tail wags in a unique fashion when he sees Elwyn and I just love watching them exchange emotions. Elwyn calls Walley "motor boat" because his tail wags like a powered motor when he sees Elwyn and until Walley feels like he has had enough, he just won't let go of Elwyn! Such a heartwarming sight! Elwyn tells me how he always enjoys Walley's way of greeting him when he comes home; of course I can just see it on Elwyn's lit up face:-) He does not even have to say a word! Elwyn and Walley are the only two best buddies in my life and they are my source of inspiration for writing this blog! What would I have to write if it were not for these two boys in my life? The grand evening welcome by Walley is something Elwyn and I always cherish and both of us wait to come home to our puppy's unconditional and infinite love. Sometimes, it's not even possible to express what we feel in words because it's just so amazing!! Although, we never spent any quality time with Walley in the morning and left him all by himself at home with his toys when we went to work, he never once asked us "Why" when we came home. He is just happy to see us! Dogs teach us so many lessons that man can only preach and never follow. Dogs rule!

3. "I will wag my tail only when you are happy"

This is our Walley! He's merely our reflection when it comes to feelings and emotions. He's happy when we're happy and when we're sad or sick, he's down too. He wags his tail only when we're happy and I really mean that when I say it. It's like a secret promise he made to us when he joined our family and like a true friend, he always keeps it! When someone said that Dog is Man's best friend, it was no joke! It's the most true thing anyone has ever said!! Dogs are the best companions humans could ever ask for. A young innocent baby or an old dying man can trust a dog completely because it is so truly loyal and loving. Our Walley just lays down quietly for hours together when either one of us is sick or drained out after a heavy work day. He will intermittently and without us even knowing, lay next to us and begin kissing our pain away. Walley just knows how to turn our bad days into good ones. When we're having a difficult time and it does not matter how difficult the situation is, Walley does not run around playing or wagging his tail and having fun with his toys. He sometimes does not even eat his food properly if we are not doing great. He wags his tail only when we're happy, joyful and when he's assured that we're doing fine. Did we train him to do that? No!! He was just born to be that way. He's our best friend. Elwyn and I could not have asked for a better companion. He's always there for us during the good, the bad and the ugly. Walley's love for us does not change. He's like an angel that God sent to us. How great is that God Almighty who created such life? There is just so much to learn from dogs!

I can just go on and on writing this blog for days together because there is so much to write about a puppy's unconditional love but I will wind this off now and save the rest of the heartwarming stories for another time. All I want say before I sign off is that we may never be able to show our love in the unique way that dogs do, but we can at least appreciate them for who they are and give them the best we can: All they need is love; our love and it doesn't matter to them if we are imperfect, they accept us just the way we are! Spend time with your dogs whenever you can and they will always give back selflessly in an unmatched proportion; that's a guarantee!