A dog story called His Master's Smile. A canine article by Ron Hevener, a reputable kennel owner and published author of pets stories.
His Master's Smile
 
 
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He had won.
He had done his master proud and he had won.
It wasn't that he understood exactly "what" he had done to make everyone so happy. It wasn't as if he had fought off a raging bear, or saved a lost child. He hadn't run for help or chased a thief away from those he loved. He hadn't done any of those things. He hadn't done anything but be himself, standing before a crowd of strangers, beside the one he loved. And, there it was: His master's hand upon his shoulder; his master's voice at his ear; his master's smile upon him.
 
It wasn't always like this. In the long-ago mists of Before, when he nudged his mother's breast and scrapped with his brothers and sisters, he was blind to the life that lay ahead of him, blind to anything but himself. Listening into the night, his mother's breath comforted him in a world of what he could feel, hear, or sense around them. But, from his earliest awakening, he was aware of a presence around him; an intelligence. From as far back as he could think, there seemed to be a mysterious something watching over them, providing an order to things; a mysterious someone who seemed to care.
 
Day after day it was like this. Day after day, as he dozed in the manner of the newborn, he felt himself touched by something greater than he, himself, seemed to be. It wasn't that he knew himself. It wasn't as if he knew he was any different from a rock or a tree or the flowers decorating his life. He only knew that his life was protected by someone that could change anything around him.
 
It was a power that could change the bedding on which he lay. It could bring him food. It could bring water. It could take away his mother, making him wonder if she would ever return. It could fill the air with music all night long and calm him with a reassuring voice. From the moment he first saw it, he knew he was important to this powerful someone. He knew it from the moment he felt his master's smile upon him.
 
As it is with all young dogs, there were ups and there were downs. There was the time he escaped and followed a yellow butterfly. Yes, it was true he could hear his name being called. It sounded nice, hearing his master shout his name to the Heavens and fade into the distance. But, a yellow butterfly! Now that was something he had to know about. He had to know about all kinds of things in the Early Days. He had to know about powdery wings that fluttered and lifted a butterfly into the air. Did he have wings, too, he wondered? Where were his own wings? ... Where, he suddenly wondered with a sinking feeling in his belly, was his master's voice? Yellow butterflies melted into darkness and shivers as he learned the meaning of loneliness ... and longing.
 
A light! The rustling, crunching sound of dry leaves and familiar footsteps! Was it possible? "There you are!" came the words that showed him all things are possible even when all is lost. "I've been looking for you," came the caress of love as they turned for home and he felt his master's smile upon him ....
 
There were other times, many of them, when he tried new things. Some were praised and others were not. But through it all, through the good times and the bad, his spirit flourished and he grew. As his spirit grew, so did the body in which it dwelled. He grew taller, stronger, and wiser with his master never far away; feeding him, watering him, turning on the radio and filling the night with music ....

  These stories may not necessarily reflect the opinions of this website or it's employees.
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Dog tags ring, are you listening'?
In the lane, snow is glistening'.
It's yellow, NOT white I've been there tonight,
Marking up my winter wonderland

Smell that tree? That's my fragrance.
It's a sign for wandering vagrants;
"Avoid where I pee, it's MY pro-per-ty!
Marked up as my winter wonderland."

In the meadow dad will build a snowman,
following the classical design.
Then I'll lift my leg and let it go Man,
So all the world will know that it's
mine-mine-mine!

Straight from me to the fence post,
flows my natural incense boast;
"Stay off my TURF, this small piece of earth,
I marked it as my winter wonderland."

Borrowed From:
Taking the Lead