Describe Your Pet in One Word

If you could describe your pet in one word, what would it be?

I was recently asked to describe both of my dogs in one word. “Determined” is the word I used for Sanchez (pictured above). I’ve actually never known a dog who could focus so intently on something of desire and not forget about it no matter how many distractions are present. When he was a puppy in training for Guide Dogs for the Blind, many people observed that he would monitor a room for hours, find a missing loop hole where he could do something forbidden, and then perform that behavior in the most creative of ways. His “down” is admirable. However, while in a “down”, he has been known to crawl across an entire room to get a crumb on the floor. You can see the look of determination on his face. It’s honestly quite entertaining, especially as he looks at me as if he’s thinking, “Well, I’m still in a down.”

Gina’s word is “playful”. She is ready to play at any hour of the day or night. Unlike Sanchez, it doesn’t occur to her that there are loop holes, because everything is just good all the time. OK, it was really a toss-up between the words “playful” and “happy”. She never complains about anything, and is much more a typical Lab than Sanchez. Everything is just good all the time.

My belief is that pets are brought into our life to teach us many life lessons. It’s different for everyone and even changes at various times in our lives. I don’t find it accidental that Sanchez was brought into my life at the same time I was on the verge of creating music that calms dogs. He was actually the inspiration for it, as he was a very high energy, rambunctious puppy and was calmed easily by the right prescription of music. His determination that he carried in his own personality was something that I learned from and still apply to my life today. Now that I devote my full time career to helping improve the lives of dogs with music, his reminder to be patient, determined, and never lose sight of my dream of helping relieve anxiety issues in millions of dogs through sound therapy is something I carry with me daily.