My first dog, Tara, was one of a kind and with a name chosen from Gone With the Wind.
Do dogs grow up to mimic our appearances and personalities or do we, subconsciously, pick that one puppy who best resembles us?
When I first picked up the small, warm, brown pup, later named Tara, my first house-dog and a German Short-haired Pointer, she looked like a seal.
You know, the luscious, dark furred, round bottomed sea-creature with gleaming eyes and long whiskers. A puppy in a fur tuxedo.
I was not round-bottomed nor did I have whiskers 25 years ago. But Tara did and she also had honey-colored eyes and long ears, framing her face like well-set curls.
It’s all in the… eyebrows
Have you noticed how much a dog can communicate by just looking at you? Each facial expression, punctuated by those magical eyebrows, has a different meaning. Is a full sentence in its own right.
How they’re able to turn every situation in their favor?
So did Tara, just by using her eyebrows; bringing them together, pointing upwards, to created a vertical wrinkle between them. Or creased low over her eyes, deep in thought.
“Doing a PhD thesis on this ball in front of me. Care to help?” she’d often say…
Or by lifting them, curving them over her eyes, suddenly so big and innocent, this movement often combined with a small drop of drool in the corner of her mouth. “I trust you unconditionally to take care of my every need”, they’d say, while intentionally avoiding me.
“And I need a snack, right about now would be ideal.”
Or by just keeping her brows motionless, only her eyes rolling slowly underneath, left, right… watching me, studying me, persuading me…
“I know we did not play during the past hour. Do YOU know?”
Unconditional love
We surely mimicked each other, Tara and I, my heart joyful after hers.
She was always giving and loving, unknowingly fueling my love for animals; teaching me that unconditional love has no limits.
Tara, entering my life from Gone with the Wind to Happy Friends.
You might also enjoy reading about the silent dog heroes of war.
(October 2016)
Hello Will,
Thank you very much. I am happy you enjoyed Tara’s story.
Pleased that you stopped by and do come back soon to check the new posts.
Kindest Regards,
Patricia Furstenberg
Thank you so much for your comment!
I am happy you enjoy my writing.
If you read all the posts so far, yay I suggest the latest one: Great dog characters in books for readers of all ages – http://alluringcreations.co.za/wp/great-dog-characters-in-books-for-readers-of-all-ages/
Kind Regards,
Patricia
Thank you for your kind words.
I am pleased you enjoyed “Tara, from Gone with the Wind to Happy Friends”.
Do visit our blog again to read more short stories.
Best wishes,
Patricia Furstenberg
If I try and ignore mine, he just gives me a huge nudge!
Oh, this is brilliant! 🙂 Yes, we get those too…
Dogs are amazing companions, Tara sounds like a gem! we used to have a gentle yellow lab named, Holly. She was an escape artist but such a wonderful friend and patient with our girls who were quite young at the time. I can still hear the jingle of her collar sometimes.
Yes, she was a family member 🙂 She changed us all into better people. Tara used to make a distinct noise when he was stepping on tiles.
Labs are golden, Holly surely left her paw print on your life too. You family was the lucky one, growing up with her 🙂
Thank you for sharing your memory.
Good question, Pat, on whether puppies mimic us or resemble us? Or possibly both? I will not look at eyebrows the same way after reading your post. I also cannot help but think of Eugene Levy. Also, have seals been referred to as ‘pups of the sea?’ I can feel the love you had/have for Tara in this story.
She was very special to us all, Tara 🙂
Lovely analogy with Levy 🙂 haha.
You could just imagine that the eyebrows are a dog’s punctuation marks…