Puppy Love

        “Христос Воскрес!”

            “Воистину Воскрес!”

            We exclaimed cheerful proclamations of Christ’s Resurrection while striking our Easter eggs together to see whose egg stands up to the punishment the longest. It’s Russian Orthodox Easter and we gathered at my father’s dinner table to celebrate the grandest holiday of the year.
         Yan, my father’s Rottweiler lay as a foot warmer under the table. He firmly planted his butt on my left foot as I stroked his hind legs with my right. I wasn’t the only one. We constantly bumped feet with each other. Like lovers on a hot date, we kept up appearances above the table while our feet lived a life of their own beneath it, drawn to the silky fur like moths to a flame.

          Yan is an epitome of omnipresence. You cannot sit down, play with a toy, talk, greet or approach anyone without being stampeded by one hundred and ten pounds of love and affection. No matter what you’re doing, you better have one appendage free to please rub behind the ear, the base of the scrimpy tail and the belly. “Oh yeahhh…”

            Yan doesn’t need to learn human speech to make his thoughts and desires known. All is plain and clear, written on that superbly expressive face.

          “Did you say WALK? Really!? No, I can carry my own damn leash, thank you. Oh you want it back, do you? Like you’re the one in control? Ha! Keep telling yourself that.”

            “Squirrel! Squirrel! Squirrel!”

            “Wasn’t it a great chase? Why are you panting so hard? What’s wrong? Did you trip back there? It’s OK we’ll get him the next time. But you’ve got to shape up, man! I won’t be towing you around the park forever!”

            “That dog! I don’t like him. He thinks he’s so big and scary. So what if he’s a miniature poodle? I’m the alpha male around here! You tell that bitch that I’m gonna tear him to pieces if I as much as smell him anywhere near my turf. What?! What?! Do you wanna piece of me?!”

              “Good morning sunshine! Here, let me lick that face clean. Why so grumpy? Its 6 A.M. already! Turn that frown upside down!”

              “No I’m not a huge bear dog lying on top of you, cutting off circulation to your nether regions. I’m a cute little puppy, light as a feather. See?”

              “C’mon. One piece, just one, please, please, please, pretty please, one piece, pleease!”

            “Whatchya got there, in that bag, and this one? Did you bring anything for me? It’s OK. I’ll just pretend that your foot is a chew toy.”

            This pretty much sums up that dog’s character, but today I saw an expression in his eyes that I cannot describe. Yan leaned into my father’s side, resting his head on my father’s moon shaped belly and looked like he was in heaven. He sat very still, cherishing every second, almost melting into my father. He smiled with his whole body.
       
              I don’t think that humans are capable of that kind of love, selfishness and egotism intervenes. We can only gracefully receive it and take it for granted like my father does. He is very lucky to have this unquestionable, irrevocable, everlasting love in his life. I wish that dog many happy years filled with squirrel hunts and tissue shredding. Although he can be a huge pain in the ass, he will leave a big gaping hole in our hearts when he’s gone.