Dekker Writes Again
Welcome to ‘the Dog House.’ This is where Dekker, a multi-talented service dog, offers his canine wisdom to humans.
Today, he is asked about the reality of dogs who can write and if he ever runs out of things to say. (It hasn’t happened yet!)
Dekker responds to concerns about hot weather while wearing a fur coat and concerns about growing old.
And he loves to tackle tough questions. Leave them in the chat, and I will see that he gets them. OH…and of course, there is a piece of kibble for him when he does!
Hi Dekker,
I am writing because I don’t really believe that dogs can write. Someone is using you to spread ideas that are really theirs just because you are cute and people love animals. I don’t think this is honest. I have two cats and a tank of fish, but they don’t ‘write’. They chase mice and swim in circles. That’s what cats and fish were created to do. Doesn’t it make you mad that your person is using you this way? It makes me mad.
Honest Henry
Woof Woof, Henry,
I am so sorry you feel this way. No, it doesn’t make me mad at all. As you know, I am a service dog, and my job is to help my person. But you are correct that I wasn’t taught to write (even with a transcriptionist) as one of my duties as a service dog.
Creative writing belongs to everyone…and every animal. What saddens me is that you haven’t yet learned that your cats have something important to tell you…and maybe the world.
Although, from what I know about cats, it will be easier to transcribe from a fish! Try asking them a question someday. Sit quietly until you get an answer. Then write it down.
Let me know what they say! Woof!
Dear Dekker,
It was a very hot summer where I live. I see you with your black fur coat and get concerned that you cannot ‘take it off.’ How do you stay cool and comfortable?
Thanks, Cathy
Woof Woof, Cathy,
Thank you so much for being concerned about my welfare when it gets hot. You are right…I can’t take off my fur coat. Woooooof…can you imagine what I would look like in my bare skin?!
In the same way that I am a service dog to help a person, I think of my human as my ‘service person,’ for she helps me with many things.
In the house, it is never too hot. My person uses a ‘heat pump,’ but it feels like a ‘cool pump’ to me. The hottest place is getting into a car that has been sitting in the sun.
For about 10 minutes, it feels like I will melt into a puppy patty, but there is a magic button there, too, and when she presses it, the cool arrives.
I know how to press buttons with my nose, but she has never asked me to do that in the car. I’m not sure why.
I think the secret to staying comfortable in your own skin may be in knowing how to press buttons with your nose.
Dear Dekker,
Do you ever run out of things to say? You have been writing for a couple of years now, and I figure one of these days, you will say enough is enough and take down your ‘shingle.’
Dwayne
Woof woof, Dwayne,
Well, for starters, I never have had a shingle. Isn’t that for lawyers and doctors?
I do have a cast iron sign on the house that looks a lot like me. I don’t know why my person put it there. Maybe she doesn’t want to forget where I live.
She can be so forgetful. Last week, she forgot that I had an appointment at the groomer, and I had to wait several more days for my spa treatment.
I call it that when my fur is shampooed and my ears get cleaned. I even get my nails done. I am so spoiled!
If you are suggesting that I might retire from writing (and all my other duties), I suppose that may happen sometime in the next few years, but I am only eight years old. Lots of good stories left to write. I’m just getting started!
Dear Dekker,
I just got new glasses, and everything looks so much brighter and clearer. What do dogs do when their eyesight changes? (I assume you are no different than humans there.) I have yet to see a pooch with glasses. Or a hearing aid, for that matter, but I have seen a dog with a wheelchair. I’m just wondering what happens to dogs that grow old.
NearSighted Nate
Woof Woof Nate!
Fortunately, I don’t use my eyes the way you do. I have no need to read or watch television. What I actually see is not nearly as clear as what I smell.
I can find anything if I know what it smells like. My human was taught to put lemon scent on an iPhone so I can find it when she leaves it anywhere.
You ask about what happens when dogs grow old. I can’t answer that as I am not there yet.
Why do you worry about old age? I figure I will still put one paw down before the other; I will dream of running and swimming when I sleep, just as I have done for the last eight years.
I am happy to eat whatever my person feeds me, and I am grateful to have a cozy bed to curl up in.
None of these things change with age. I think the secret is in the gratitude. That’s where my tail comes in. Perhaps if humans had a tail to wag, they might not despair of old age. There is always something worth wagging a tail about.
Don’t you agree?
Show me where to send the next post!
