COMMENTARY: The more time we spend together, the more I realize that I can love Billie, our dog, without assigning her feelings drawn from my human repertoire, writes Julie Wittes Schlack.
When I was pregnant with our first child, my husband and I decided that we needed practice in caring for another living creature. We walked into the local animal shelter and emerged with Brandy, a three-year old dog — part Gordon Setter, part mutt, and all goodness.
But decades later, things changed. We semi-retired. The pandemic forced us to take daily long but boring walks when our gym closed. And then we left the city and moved to a cohousing community that borders conservation land. Now we were witnessing a daily procession of dogs — some prancing, some shambling — parading down the path into the woods. Their humans looked rosy-cheeked and fit.
As Billie has learned to sit when asked, to relieve herself outdoors, to walk alongside me on the leash rather than encircling and trussing my ankles like a boneless pork roast, I sometimes think, “Our dog is gifted.” Then I remind myself that all of these new behaviors are a product of my cooing approval, belly rubs, and doling out of stinky dog treats. She isn’t brilliant, I decide, so much as just amazingly pliable.
Is Billie even capable of self-awareness? I don’t know. But I am. I know these are just stories I tell myself.
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