How Much Do Dogs Understand About Us?
A reflection on the convergence of our lives with these unforgettable canines.
I woke up from a nap, which oddly involved a dream about bad breath in it, only to see Ottie staring at me from the side of the bed, his eyes just a foot from mine. His tongue hung out of the side of his mouth as he beamed a smile in recognition that I was awake. To be fair, he always smiled: he was a golden retriever.
I said, “You feeling good today, buddy?” And reached my hand over to pet him.
He wagged his tail, seeming to signal, “Yes! Yes, I am!”
“And do you love me as much as I love you?” I said in my sing-songy dog dad voice.
He barked and started wagging his tail. And then it occurred to me — does he even know what I’m saying, like, at all? The inner ego in me wanted to scream, “Of course! He gets you, man!”
In an experiment, I used that same happy, sing-songy voice and said, “Would you like me to take you to the veterinarian and put you to sleep?”
Again, he smiled, barked, and wagged his tail with excitement, with that same dead-pan smile. And I realized my morbid experiment was not proving my point all that well.
