A Pet's Ten Commandments

My initial post of a pet's 10 Commandments came via email and touched me deeply, but did not credit anyone. I have since been informed that this is copyrighted material, so here is the correct version with credit to the author below. Can we pet lovers not all relate?

The 10 Commandments From a Pet's Point of View

* My life is likely to last 10-15 years, any separation from you will be painful for me. Remember that before you buy me.

* Give me time to understand what you want from me, don't be impatient, short-tempered, or irritable.

* Place your trust in me and I will always trust you back. Respect is earned not given as an inalieable right.

* Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment, I am not capable of understanding why? I only know I have been rejected, you have your work entertainment and friends I only have you.

* Talk to me sometimes, even if I don't understand your words I understand your voice and your tone, "you only have to look at my tail".

* Be aware that however you treat me I'll never forget it, and if it's cruel it may affect me forever.

* Please don't hit me I can't hit back, but I can bite and scratch and I really don't ever want to do that.

* Before you scold me for being uncooperative, obstinate, or lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right foods or I've been out in the sun too long, or my heart is getting old and weak, I may be just dog tired.

* Take care of me when I get old. You too will grow old and may also need love, care, comfort, and attention.

* Go with me on difficult journeys, never say, "I can't bear to watch" or "Let it happen in my absence". Everything is easier for me if you are there. Remember, irrespective of what you do I will always love you.

© Stan Rawlinson 1993
Dog Behaviourist and Obedience Trainer
www.doglistener.co.uk/humour/commandments.shtml
www.doglistener.co.uk
0208 979 2019

"I changed this slightly from my initial 1993 poem
this is the final draft version 1998"

Photo: Maggie and me (around age 8).

Posted By:

Dawn Kairns
Author of MAGGIE the dog who changed my life A Story of Love

Website: www.dawnkairns.com

Blog: Dawn Kairns and Maggie the Dog
Twitter: www.twitter.com/themaggiebook

Become a fan on Facebook of MAGGIE: the dog who changed my life

2009 Indie Book Awards Finalist
DWAA 2008 Merial Human-Animal Bond Award Finalist

Wit's End ... a True Story

Normally I blog about animals, dogs in particular. But I have recently begun working as a Therapy Dog team with Maddie, our adopted black lab, in a juvenile center. For those of you who have read my book, MAGGIE the dog who changed my life A Story of Love, you know that I, too, dealt with a troubled teen stepson who had an alcohol addiction. Author Sue Scheff offers advice for helping your troubled teen in her book, Wit's End, described below. It seems appropriate to share given my current therapy dog work with Maddie and high risk teens. Hopefully it can help those of you struggling with your own potential high risk teen before they end up in a juvenile center. Of course, sometimes we seem to be at our "wit's end" and nothing we do seems to help. Let a mom who has been there share her resources & her story with you:

Author: Sue Scheff

Available from
HCIBooks.com

Plain Talk and Straight Answers for Parents of Troubled Teens

Wit's End is the shockingly gripping story of how Sue Scheff, a parent of a formerly troubled teen, turned her mistakes—and her relationship with her daughter—around. This highly practical and prescriptive book calls upon Scheff's personal experiences with finding help for her daughter. It includes the same advice that Scheff offers parents through her internationally recognized organization Parents' Universal Resource Experts (P.U.R.E.)—an advocacy group that draws parents together and helps them find ways to protect their children from destructive influences by educating them about the issues their family faces and creating a safe environment to revive familial bonds.

Using the same criteria P.U.R.E. uses to research residential treatment centers and other teen-help programs around the world, Wit's End provides positive, prescriptive help for families who want to put their children on the road to a safe, healthy, happy, and independent adulthood.

Wit's End is a much-needed guide—written by a parent who has been there—that helps parents navigate the choices and methods available to them and their child. It serves as an action plan that empowers parents—and their children—toward healing.

Posted By:

Dawn Kairns
Author of MAGGIE the dog who changed my life A Story of Love

Website: www.dawnkairns.com

Blog: Dawn Kairns and Maggie the Dog Twitter: www.twitter.com/themaggiebook

Become a fan on Facebook of MAGGIE: the dog who changed my life

2009 Indie Book Awards Finalist
DWAA 2008 Merial Human-Animal Bond Award Finalist