Pet poetry

Tails of the City, the San Francisco Chronicle pet blog, recently ran a pet haiku contest. Here are the results.

Here's one of the submissions that I particularly like:

Dogs wait patiently / With their origami ears / Folded precisely. -J. Fenton

Caregiving lessons from a two-legged friend and from a four-legged friend

Two recent pieces in the New York Times discussed the difference a caring companion makes in coping with serious illness.

First, a medical student reflects on the comfort and companionship a man gave to two patients who faced death and long recovery.

His story, I realized, was a kind of love story, and in some way it evoked all of our stories, whether we are doctor or patient, comforter or comforted, healer or healed. Josh reaffirmed for me what we medical professionals know but all too easily forget: the human story is not a series of illnesses and treatments that we manage, but is an unfolding mystery — a process with which we ourselves are in ongoing communion, both as witnesses and as full participants.

Also, from the "Well" health blog, Dana Jennings tells Life Lessons from the Family Dog--the author's struggle with agressive prostate cancer and the contemporaneous age-related decline in his dog's health.

Even so, as I face my own profound health issues, it is my dog’s poor health that is piercing me to the heart. I’m dreading that morning when I walk downstairs and … well, those of us who love dogs understand that all dog stories end the same way.

. . .

Dogs also tell us – especially when we’re sick – of our own finitude. And, partly, that’s why we cry when they die, because we also know that all human-being stories end the same way, too.

"How much is that doggy in the split-up"

Okay, I'm showing my age with that (lame) reference to popular music (of another century, no less). However, the ABA family law listserv recently circulated this appeals case from New Jersey, under the subject of "dog custody." While that label gets attention, the decision is not really about custody at all, with no analysis parallel to child custody (except for a footnote alluding to amicus briefs asking the court to apply a "best interest of the dog" standard).

In the end, the court said the woman should receive the dog, not just its cash value. The court's analysis went like this. Beginning with the finding of the lower court, the court determined that the couple had agreed that the woman would receive the dog when they divided their property upon their split. (The couple was not married, so this is not a divorce case, which is not relevant in the court's analysis.) Next, after the man refused to give the dog to the woman, the court said that she could demand the dog back and not have to settle for the monetary value of the dog. The court reasoned that the dog had sentimental value beyond what the couple had paid for it, therefore, the woman was entitled to receive the dog specifically in the division of the couple's property.

We love our pets... part five

If you need something to lighten your mood, or if you want to see what some people do when they have more time or money than most of us, check out the doghouse designs featured in the L.A. Times. The gallery of photos is entitled "Dogitecture."

Many designs parallel human residential styles: modern, country, green. The photos with dogs are the best, such as the big house with the little dog, the dog lying on the roof of the doghouse, and, my favorite, the St. Bernard in front of the Swiss chalet.

We love our pets--part four

Divorcing and pet custody?

Earlier this year, the Santa Barbara Independent ran this piece on divorce, pet "custody," and hints on prevailing in court on the subject.

We love our pets... part three

In addition to doctors, nurses, high-tech treatments, family, and friends, cancer patients have another ally in their care and survival--a pet. The Washington Post reports testimonials from breast cancer survivors about how their pets helped them cope with cancer. The cancer survivors even made a calendar featuring photos of themselves with their pets (see the calendar photo gallery here).

There are some common themes in the way the women talk about how their pets have journeyed with them through their cancer. "Just their warm heartbeat lying next to me was incredibly healing," says Connie Reider, who finds purpose in a workshop she teaches for cancer survivors called INscape, the Healing Art of Photography, and finds comfort in her Portuguese water dog named Splash.

The organization behind the calendar project is Critters for the Cure.

(Photo by Carol Guzy - Washington Post)

We love our pets... part two

Vets and pets. Veterans who have injuries or disabilities from war are receiving help from service dogs. This piece in the New York Times tells the stories of wounded soldiers and the ways their dogs help improve their physical and mental health. A nice story to honor our country's vets. The story includes a slideshow of photos too.

(Photo by soldiersmediacenter; used by permission.)

We love our pets... part one

Animal companions enhance our lives in many ways. Consider the many pet photos people happily share in the L. A. Times, for example. By now, nearly everyone has heard of the multi-million dollar bequest Leona Helmsley left to her dog, with billions more designated for a trust for the care of dogs. In the end, a reviewing court allowed the trust, with the ultimate beneficiary of the trust being a pet shelter. A full story about the Helmsley estate appears in the New Yorker.