Finlay @ Christmas


Some animals get under your skin
For recent readers, I post this, my favourite photo of Finlay
He was sitting on the couch watching tv when I snapped this pic of him and father Christmas
It made a lovely Christmas card
I still miss him...he broke my heart

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But...you've given your heart for a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!);
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart for the dog to tear.

We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear? 

Kipling

55 comments:

  1. finlay looks like a happy puppy; no wonder you miss him.

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  2. I know what you mean, I still miss my Tommy so much even though we have another dog she is no replacement.

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  3. I know how you feel. Miss Molly as much today, and it's been over two years.

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  4. I know what you mean, I still miss my Tommy so much even though we have another dog she is no replacement.

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  5. Even with our four delightful pooches, I still miss my wee Wally Wumble... a salt and pepper miniature schnauzer.

    They make a home in your heart and refuse to leave.

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  6. I love all his beautiful curls.
    Thank You for posting about him.

    cheers, parsnip

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  7. Finlay seemed the closest that an animal could get to a human being …. would that be right John ? XXXX

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    1. Jac....in my psychi
      You are right
      He broke my heart

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  8. I will be quite honest- I do not care so much for dogs. Other people's dogs, oh yes! I can adore them from afar. However...
    I had a dog once whose name was Queenie. She was not pretty and had a horrible underbite and she stole my heart away and I loved that dog like nobody's business.
    And then she got hit by a car and died and I grieve her still. I kept two of her pups, thinking they would be something like her. I was so wrong. But, they lived here for fourteen years and I tended them as best I could. They are gone now and I do not grieve them. But I still grieve their mother. And miss her. Damn. She was a fine little dog with a spirit as big as any mastiff's.

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    1. You gave your heart for a dog to tear

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  9. This post is not good to read over breakfast, it bought tears to my eyes as I still grieve for my first little dog.

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  10. Well, he certainly was an adorable happy pup.
    And I know how you feel about our missing furry kids; but, oh, the love they gave us while they were here ....

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  11. Such a beautiful boy , I love that photo. I have two poodles and Bobi is a rescue dog . I love them both but Bobi my rescue dog is my absolute love . I have never had a dog who loves me so . He has my heart in his soft white paws.

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  12. I think we are always lost from the word go as soon as they turn their soft velvet eyes on you and wrap their paws around our hearts and they don't let go. They train us well these darlings of ours and we pander to their every whim. They are family and their love is the purest of all loves unconditional. It is the most amazing love returned a thousand fold it even eclipses their passsing when we still feel their paws wrapped round our hearts. They are all unique all individuals and full of character but then I would not want it any other way. I lost my heart to cats and dogs many moons ago. They teach us to love and to move on even when it is painful because love of any sort re-affirms all that is good in life and teaches us to love unconditionally too. Finlay looks a happy little chap. God bless his cottons.

    Take care

    Pattypan

    x

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  13. Reading your poem and thinking how Kiplingesque, and there it was, Kipling. He was the sort of outdoors man who would love a terrier. And I liked your first title, Finlay at the wheel. Brought to mind Johnson's Motor Car--"we'll give the boys a mighty fine ride in Johnson's motor car."

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  14. A wonderful poem and I so understand.

    This past year we "lost" Maggie Mae and my husband still will not speak of it.

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  15. I still have a dried up rubber toy that was my little Pasha's, a miniature poodle. I spent my last $50.00 to buy him from a fly by night pet shop. He only lived for six months after I brought him home. The vets kept treating him for a cold, but in the end he had distemper. Totally broke my heart. I will never forget him! It was over 30 years ago and it is still a very deep tear! The sad part is I have no pictures of him!

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  16. Anonymous2:42 am

    A friend of mine once said that if you're very lucky, you get to own one dog in your life who's your "soul mate". Mine was named Casey; I'm thinking yours was Finlay.

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  17. I wish you wouldn't do this... a lump in my throat before breakfast is not good for me. We're still grieving for Monty.

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  18. Oh yes. The grief which is at least as big (and often bigger) as the animal. And which doesn't die.

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  19. His smile in that photo is just priceless.x

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  20. So true. I still miss my old poodle. Nursing him through old age and then having to take the awful, inevitable decision broke my heart.
    Lovely picture of Finlay.

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  21. Elsie is my fourth dog. The two before her (a Cocker and Old English) lived long happy lives. The one that broke my heart the most was a Border Collie cross. When I was three a strange man put his hand through our back garden fence near where I was playing. The dog defended me by biting his hand. Unfortunately it did not end well for my dog. Even though I was only three I still remember him looking back at me as the vet lead him away.

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  22. Oh this got me......Boolie (our 14 year old Springer Spaniel), well his time clock is ticking..........I just enjoy the stubborn, noisy, irritating mutt while I can, bless him. Vx

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  23. Crying before breakfast not good. Love Kipling, love dogs, sigh. Jan Bx.

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  24. We talk about Sam a lot x

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  25. He was a cutie for sure

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  26. I didn't know this poem at all John, so thanks for posting it - it is so true. That is a lovely photograph.
    I have loved all my dogs - Yorkie, Bull terrier, Pug, German Short Haired Pointer and now Border terrier. I couldn't imagine life without a dog.
    Tess had a marginal sulk on her return from the kennels on Sunday, but by Monday morning she had forgotten about it and was back to normal.

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  27. He'd have passed as a teddy bear. Such remarkable resemblance - but so much better in every possible way.

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  28. I'm sobbing all over the keyboard.

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  29. Having said goodbye to four cats in my life, I am very reluctant to get another. The bond you can make with an animal is often stronger than the bonds we make with other human beings. Words don't really matter. You can connect in silence or through eye contact. No I wouldn't want to say goodbye to another cat though he would probably outlive me anyway.

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  30. Having said goodbye to four cats in my life, I am very reluctant to get another. The bond you can make with an animal is often stronger than the bonds we make with other human beings. Words don't really matter. You can connect in silence or through eye contact. No I wouldn't want to say goodbye to another cat though he would probably outlive me anyway.

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  31. Hi John, no worries about visiting the blog, as long as you keep yours up, I never miss yours even if I don't always comment.
    Writing this through the tears.
    Briony
    x

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  32. I refuse to be sad for the loss of the dogs in my lifetime who "have torn my heart". I feel so lucky that in this cosmos of souls we found each other for what ever short time or long time we had. Plain and simple....we loved each other! Would you have preferred to have never met? I think a dog would always say.."Hell NO!"

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  33. Because, in the end, it's worth it -- the dog tears our heart but also builds it up and adds to it immeasurably.

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  34. You get back so much, to balance what you give

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  35. You had Finlay, I have Suky. I honestly can not imagine my life without her. Losing Charley was horrendous I do not even want to think about losing Suky.

    I feel your pain, especially at losing the lovely Finlay the way you did, it never goes away does it, just lurks silently beneath the surface of day to day life ready to jump up and catch you unawares at the most unexpected times.

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  36. Anonymous11:15 am

    I know how you feel John...my heart breaks for my dear old Nick and he's been gone so very long......almost 20 years now.(cat)

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  37. This is a wonderful post/tribute to a very sweet dog, John.
    I so get how you are feeling.
    I was recently thinking about the our dog, Jessie, whom we had for 15 years. She was 'special', loyal and understood things. I still have her ashes on a shelf.....its been 12 years. Maybe your post will give me incentive to let her go in her favourite river. Thanks.

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  38. Losing my Chester (cat) totally broke my heart...I love my other cats, but he was my best buddy...how lucky we have been to share part of our lives with them...

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  39. I feel the same way about my lovely kit Pumpkin, who died of cat leukaemia far too young. What a heart rending poem.

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  40. Blubbering like a fool now....miss my Rowdy so much

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  41. Our first dog died at aged 14, when our son was only 9 years old. It broke his heart. As an only child, she was his best friend. When I brought him home from hospital as a baby, she greeted him with a lick on the head. He learned to walk holding on to her collar. They played in the snow, on the beach and in the garden together. He cried in bed every night for months when she died, even though we got a new pup, the same breed, and he was potty about the new pup.

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  42. We've had several heartbreakers as well...(((hug)))

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  43. Darn. I must have something in my eye(s).

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  44. I know what you mean.

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  45. I had two dogs, Tippy and Bailey. A Border Collie and a Mut. Tippy lived to 14, Bailey to 17, both died of old age. I keep their ashes here with me to be mingled with mine when I go. Yes, they tore my heart but like you, I'll treasure that tear for the rest of my life. Fine pups all.

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  46. This is why I 'puppy parent' assistance dogs. I get an endless supply of puppies to love for a year. It's hard to give them up when they go on to do their advanced training but I never have watch them grow old and then have to make that terrible final decision. I don't want my heart torn like that ever again. What a coward I am!

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  47. You were the one who shared this verse with me originally a few years ago. Its words are timeless and so true. You never get over missing them....

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  48. I wrote this one for my heart dog. We love and miss them all, but some, well some are just that little bit more.

    For Keech


    And in my dream
    Where you came to me
    And let me hold you and stroke you

    (My hand once more sliding past
    Your warm brown eyes with the
    Flecks of gold in them
    Over your rounded head
    And the upright ears which
    Flicked back and forth so sensitively)

    Even in my pleasure at seeing you
    Being with you again
    Even as I dreamed
    I could tell you were impatient with me
    You old soul you
    And were ready to go on to
    Who knows what new life
    And only I kept you
    Tied to this time and place
    With missing you and wanting you back

    (You already so much younger
    Than when you died
    On some backward journey
    Preparing to go forward again)

    Gracefully as I could I set you free
    And woke to tears

    And will I one day
    See your soul
    Shine from new eyes?

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