Aldo

My previous blog posts were about the bending or breaking of rules, here’s one when life makes that wrong turn we didn’t anticipate. On April 11 I faced a decision that many pet owners struggle with, I had to put my dog down. I find “putting my dog down” to be a strange statement. Where did it come from and what does it really mean? I’m not sure but it does resonate with people, and it brings with it an outpouring of condolences. When I tell people that I had to put my dog down, the response is the same, “I’m so sorry for your loss.” Is it really a loss? I am a firm believer that God puts people in your life for a reason. They may spend many years or just minutes with you, but there is always a message or impact meant for us to discover, whether we see it or not. How about our pets? To be clear, I am a dog-guy. While I have had a few other pets in my house, a couple of cats (not mine, and that would be a different post), a parrot, two hamsters, that quickly multiplied, and a gecko, it has been my dogs that I have been connected to. Not to downplay anyone’s connection to their pets, strange as some might be, its dogs for me. So is it a loss, I don’t think so. Each day, since the 11th, I have felt Aldo’s presence, sometimes I swear I hear him. While he is not sitting on his blanket in my den, or asleep at the foot of my bed, or staring out the front door, he is present. My life was enriched by him, and he left an impression on everyone he met. Allow me to introduce you to Aldo.

Aldo is a Spinone Italiano, an Italian hunting breed, not a very common breed in the US. He was born on May 23, 2015, in Lowville, NY and came home to us on August 1st. He possessed a shy demeanor at first until he became comfortable in his new home. That same shyness stayed with him through his life. When he met a person, he was cautious at first, not knowing what to expect, but moments later he would stand at their side as if he was their lifelong friend, which they quickly became. He never forgot anyone. Aldo did not jump up on people or lick them. He would sniff them and then look at them with eyes that drew their hearts to his. We sometimes wondered if he walked this earth before as a human and held decades of kindness in his soul. As a puppy he had large ears, paws, jowls, and eyes just waiting for the rest of him to catch up. And when they did it only served to carry his gentle and kind spirit around with him. In some way I believe he left his paw print on the soul of everyone he met, for everyone always smiled and said hello when they saw him, and they walked away feeling a little better than they did moments earlier. I always did.

He fulfilled his purpose by touching many lives through his gentleness, giving pleasure by being with him. The saying of his name, Aldo, was to speak with joy. Everyone that interacted with him received the exact amount of Aldo they needed at that time. He gave of himself just enough for you to want more until the next time you saw him. If you were selfish and asked for more, he would just look at you stubbornly probably wondering why you weren’t satisfied, he was. To consider his death as a loss would lessen the experience of his life.