Dekker Answers People Questions
Welcome to Dekker’s page of puppy-dog wisdom for humans who have questions.
Better than a therapist, Dekker is always faithful in The Reflective Pen to hear your concerns and provide his point of view.
He wants to add that his advice is not covered by liability insurance for legal or medical issues, and to take it with a grain of kibble. With that let’s see what Dekker has to say to those seeking his advice.
Dear Dekker,
I know that you go with your person everywhere,
including restaurants, and I am amazed that
you can fit under the table and stay quiet
with all the sights, sounds, and smells that
surround you. How do you do it?
Thanks, Anne of Green Tables
Woof Woof, Anne, I love going everywhere my person goes. Restaurants are my favorite. My place is always under the table whether we are out or at home.
I guess that is so my big brown eyes won’t distract people while they are trying to eat.
Personally I am glad not to have to eat at a table with people…they talk too much! Woof!
But under the table I get to study feet and knees. Sometimes I find the perfect knee to rest my chin against, but people are funny about their legs.
I guess they don’t focus on their food the way I do.
If I am lucky there will be some crumbs under the table, but mostly I just wait, and listen, sometimes falling asleep.
I think humans would call this meditation. You might try it the next time you are under a table.
Just curl yourself up into a small ball and be still. It’s no more complicated than that.
Dear Dekker,
I know you go to church every Sunday but I stopped going.
The people are friendly, but I can’t buy into what is being taught
there. My beliefs have changed a lot over the years.
I even doubt there is a God sometimes and they
are always talking about this God I don’t
quite believe in. But I miss the people a lot.
What do you advise?
Doubting Dan
Woof Woof, Dan,
You must understand that it is difficult for a dog —or a cat, or a llama for that matter—to “buy into” (to use your language) what the person in the front is talking about.
Sometimes words make no sense at all. But aren’t they only words?
I love going to church because I feel loved when I go.
I have a comfortable spot where I feel at home, I know I am needed by my person and there is lots of time to just ‘be.’
Like I just told Anne about being underneath a table where I can meditate. There is lots of time in church to meditate.
Sometimes my person asks me to sit with someone who is feeling sad and they scratch my ears instead of listening to the person in the front (the talkative one).
I never know why they are so sad, but I am glad to bring a little bit of love into their life.
I glance up at my person often to make sure she doesn’t need me, and then for the rest of the time I just stay where she has asked me to stay.
I am not sure that it is important to know all the why’s at church.
I do know it is important to love people and I can’t give them any love if we don’t go.
Have you thought of sitting next to a person who seems sad or lonely? They might scratch your ears, or not. (Too bad). And you might find going to church a pleasant experience.
Dear Dekker,
You seem wise (for a dog, that is).
Do you think wisdom comes with age,
or were you born wise?
Thanks, Sam the Skeptic
Woof Woof, Sam, I have no doubt that wisdom comes with age…and experience. Have you ever seen a little pupply who sticks his nose into anything and everything.
Hopefully not a porcupine. It isn’t wise to do that!
There are some things that we dogs never learn…like when to stop eating kibble. I notice some people have the same difficulty.
Perhaps saying no to tempting food is a matter of wisdom, but that would mean I am pretty dumb for eating everything I can get my mouth around.
And I am definitely old enough to know better. (So isn’t my person).
The wisdom comes as I learn to trust that I will get enough to eat and I no longer need to try to chew everything that looks edible.
It took me a couple of years to stop trying to eat my stuffed animals. I think wisdom for humans takes a lot longer. Maybe that is why you live so much longer than dogs.
Dear Dekker,
In these warm summer days I get totally swarmed
with mosquitoes and black flies but you
seem to completely ignore them.
How do you do that? I am
so tired of bug bites!!
Thank you. Chewed Alive Charles
Woof Woof, Charles, I would be glad to give you my flea and tick collar. Those ‘buggers’ won’t come near you as long as you keep it around your neck.
You need to put a fresh one on twice a year. If you forget, you might get an ol’ hairy tick up your back. Then you would have to go to your vet (or doc) and have it removed.
There is no odor, but it would look a bit funny with a shirt and tie.
Fortunately I don’t wear shirts and ties. I do have a bright red collar and this flea collar is often hidden by the colored one.
You might try wearing a bright red collar and then no one would notice the other one that repels bugs.
Personally, we dogs don’t worry about appearances as much as people, which is a good thing. Life is meant to be lived, not all dressed up like a doll.
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