Nika, Noah. See the devil in Nika’s eyes? She’s ready to rock roll.
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Our daughter, Megan, came home for a visit recently and brought Nika, the dog she adopted when Nika was 6 weeks old. Nika lived with us for about a year and became quite attached to our golden retriever, Noah, who is a couple of years older that she is. They became inseparable. They played together, ate together, slept curled up next to each other, chased Frisbes together. Nika became the sister Noah didn’t have. At the dog park, Noah often defended Nika against other larger dogs.
Nika loves everyone – human or animal, she’s your friend. And she had a lot of friends at our dog park. There was Thunder, a 12-year-old grumpy German shepherd mix who cuddled with her, barked at her when she was out of line, licked her when needed loving. There was Cody the trickster huskie, who chased off bigger dogs when she was a puppy and always made sure she had an ally. But Noah is definitely her bro and her protector and Megan is certainly her human.
During the time that Megan worked at her internship at Disney, we would get together once a month or so and Nika would go nuts when she saw Megan and would seem sort of sad and depressed once we all separated again. One night here at the house, Nika cornered a possum in our backyard and the possum was as freaked out as Nika – hissing, baring its teeth. Noah came to Nika’s rescue and the possum – wisely – took off.
In June, Megan’s internship at Disney ended and Nika moved to Orlando with her. During these past months, we’ve gotten together fairly regularly. Nika and Noah are so overjoyed to see each other that at one reunion, Nika leaped out the passenger window of Megan’s car just to get to Noah. During their most recent reunion, they headed to the dog park together and Nika reconnected with her buddies there, then she and Noah headed out into the park on their own, commiserating, exploring, connected at the heart.
While they were visiting, I woke in the middle of the night and saw Nika and Noah cuddled together on the quilt where he usually sleeps alone. All was well. I instantly fell back asleep. They looked like this, but on a quilt:
Dogs remember. They form bonds as intricate and intimate as those among humans. Their emotions are as real to them as our emotions are to us. Yes, I’ve been accused before of anthropomorphizing, but my response to those critics is that there’s no such thing. All animals feel and with dogs, perhaps because of their long history with humans, it’s easier to recognize these emotional connections, these memories.
There’s something here for us humans to keep in mind: if we treated each other as Nika and Noah treat each other, wouldn’t the world be a better place? We would have each other’s backs, we would remember the early love and the forever love and would give each other space to explore the world independently. We would honor each other’s differences and honor the myriad ways we are the same. We would honor the fact that we have come together in the same space and time. We would grasp the spiritual underpinnings.
I’m telling you, my next political vote will be for an individual who loves and understands dogs. It won’t be Mitt Romney, who put his dog Shamus on a roof rack during a trip to Canada. Really? A roof rack?? In the U.S, alone, there are nearly 80 million dog owners. Why would a single one of them vote for Romney? If a man can’t treat his dog right, what makes you think he would do right by you?
Years ago, one of the things my dad advised was pretty simple and straightforward, as I look at it in hindsight: You want a quick way to see who someone else actually is? Look at how they treat their family – and their pets. And then look at how they act when money is the bottom line. Those things will tell you what you need to know about that person.
I am buoyed at the dog park. Yeah, I know how that sounds. But it happens to be true. Dogs are genuine,we humans are often anything but. We’re trying, though. We’re learning, we’re evolving. Really, we are.
yep! Love this doggy story & your pa was a wise man!
The photo reminds me of my daughters dog,Amber a red setter & My terrier Tuppence who have a strong bond.Tuppence also has 2 little doggie friends locally who she has stayed with if I have to be away,when they visit here for the day ,after they leave Tuppence is sad for an evening & can not be cheered up easily. Dogs have served us so well & there is sooo much we can learn from them about unconditional Love & Loyalty & being joyous in the moment.
I saw a story yesterday about a dog who vanished after his owner died and was found by the grave & still can be found there on a daily basis.
I always love your dog stories.
I now have 3 cats and they miss each other terribly when apart. My Alpha cat, in fact, was the one who alerted me that (the cat we rescued) the abandoned cat of my neighbors had returned to our house. She seemed to sense he needed us, he was in such bad shape but he is wonderful now.
I recently brought him to PA while we moved our youngest, he missed the other cats and it turned out they missed him. When we returned home they really welcomed him, no hissing but little meows. It was something to watch. They are much more tolerant of him now .
I think animals are so amazing.
Cats, like dogs, form the same types of bonds, for sure.
Mitt eats meals first? Doesn’t surprise me. The LDS belief system is that men will become a god of their own planet someday and the woman’s role in eternity is to give continual birth to spirit children who will populate the planet, which is why the LDS still believe in the principle of polygamy, though they are not allowed to practice it in the United States, thanks to the activism of the anti-polygamy and anti-slavery party, better known as the Republican Party!
We have a complete picture of Romney (his three most unacceptable qualities were revealed with the Seamus on the roof, his bullying a fellow student who was “different”, and he made his wealth by bankrupting companies and stealing the pensions of the people whose jobs were outsourced to China). If he by some fluke ends up as president, our country will think of the George W. Bush era as “the good ole days.” We are in for a major catastrophe with Romney at the helm.
Total agreement, Nicholas!
Thanks for your post. I’m a cat person, and cats always seem to find me, knowing where to come for a little sympathy. I speak English, French, and Cat. Dogs are so noisy! But you are right……..anyone who spends time with animals knows that they are affectionate, form relationships, grieve for loss, and communicate. Anyone who spends time with animals surely realizes that we’re animals too, or animals are people too, whichever way you want to put it.
Shadow, I do the very same thing! My opinion of folks depends upon how Sunshine reacts to them, and how they react to her. There’s a curious phenomenon here where we live, but it may be a universal one. Outside in our front and back yards, there are numerous wild critters: all types of birds, including parrots; squirrels; little brown rabbits called “dune bunnies”; and others. My husband feeds all of them daily, so we have an enormous menagerie of wild creatures around our home constantly. All of them live cooperatively with our canine and our tuxedo cat. The dog lives inside, the cat lives outside. It’s astonishing to sit quietly and watch them, because the wild creatures have zero fear of our dog and cat, and the dog and cat don’t EVER chase or try to intimidate these wild animals. Occasionally they are almost nose-to-nose. It’s as if they all know that they all BELONG here, and they don’t behave in the natural manner that humans expect such creatures to behave with each other:
predator/victim behavior. They are a community of mixed species who reside very comfortably among themselves, and it’s a joy to observe. Wouldn’t it be amazing if PEOPLE could live so peacfully with each other??
A lovely story! Dogs are very social, like humans. And they certainly do have very strong feelings, and also intuitions. They are very telepathic
Marcus – I just found your comment in spam! Sorry, not sure what happened!
i’m with you! dogs are amazing, sensitive and perceptive creatures. i for one tend to judge people by how they react to my dogs when they walk into my house…
Loved this story. Love dogs. Maybe we will eventually be the people our dogs think we are.
I, too, simply love hearing about Nika and Noah, and always get misty-eyed. Agree with you, Gyps, about the *********Romney. Back to the animals, though: I read A DOG’S PURPOSE and A DOG’S JOURNEY and cannot recommend them highly enough. My Dad used to tell me a similar bit of advice, “Honey, if you want to know what a boy will be like when he’s a grown man, look at the way he treats his Mama, and the way he treats his animals”. He was, as always, right. There are times when I actually, truly believe that certain animals are more highly spiritually evolved than humans. They definitely think, reason, remember, grieve, and understand. And Oh, is their love ever unconditional! I used to take Sunshine with me everywhere I went, but because she is ill, I no longer am able to do that. When I come back home, after just a brief time of being gone to the store or whatever, she turns inside-out with joy. She needs to be at my side 24/7. For most of her life she hopped up on our bed and slept at or on our feet, although she’s a big dog. Now she can’t make the jump, so she sleeps on the carpet right up against my side of the bed where I can drop my arm down and my hand will touch her. The moment she feels my fingers on her fur, that tail thumps, even if she doesn’t raise her head or open her eyes. I just love this photo of Nika and Noah where he’s looking at her, as if he’s thinking, “Uh-oh. She’s looking for mischief!” Don’tcha just want to hug them to pieces!!
I think the romneys should read a dog’s purpose.
I simply love hearing about those heart-connected dogs. Anybody who doesn’t think dogs don’t miss their friends and mourn just doesn’t know much about them. My best friend when I grew up was a dog I’ll never forget. Thank you for reminding me about that wonderful bond. And hugs to you all. You brightened my morning. 🙂
a beautiful story – as are all those of nika and noah – but one that is so applicable to all living things on this planet just as you say – as for romney, aside from the horrific dog story, there is the story that his sons told on tv when asked how he is at home and with family – the very first response was that he – romney – at holiday meals, always went ahead of the family – especially his grandchildren – as he didn’t want to have to wait for them and that he began eating before the family – [if this isn’t verbatim, it’s very very close] – all of which to me more than rounds out the vision of romney that america should have – a self-centered egotistical elitist money monger –
Another reason not to like him – not that I needed any more of them.
I hadn’t heard that story, Gypsy! Figures.