Canine Empathy

Saying that dogs are empathic doesn’t begin to do them justice. Since the dawn of mankind dogs have evolved right along side homo sapiens. A big part of the survival skills of dogs has been their ability to sense the mood of their human. Part of this is due to their sharp observational skill, part is their incredibly sensitive sense of smell. I scoff resoundingly at paranormal phenomena, but dogs may even have a bit of ESP. The emotional bond between a person and his/her dog is very real; and it is a two way street. The dog certainly has a strong emotional bond to the human as well.

In his book Starship Troopers the renowned science fiction author Robert Heinlein describes a K-9 unit that is used in intra-galactic warfare. Such a strong bond develops between the soldier and his dog that if the dog should get killed, the soldier is immediately taken out of battle and placed in intensive therapy for a period of several years. If the human is killed but his dog survives, the dog’s grief is so severe that the dog is immediately put to death. The way Heinlein describes this it is clear that this is the only reasonable or humane course of action.

I was diagnosed with leukemia seven years ago. Fortunately the cancer has grown slowly, but I am now experiencing late-stage leukemia. The days really aren’t bad. Very little stamina, lots of sweating, a bit unsure on my feet sometimes, shortness of breath, massively swollen lymph nodes, and some occasional slurring of my words. I used to be a very accurate and fast typist; now I find that the brain doesn’t seem to communicate very well with the fingers, hence I constantly seem to ma2ke typog&ra#phical errors.

I have begun to dread the nights. Headaches almost every night now. The intense night sweats create a constant battle to avoid dehydration. Also having to get up and pee every hour or so. Sudden onset leg cramps every night, which demand that one immediately jumps out of bed and puts pressure (standing) on the leg that is cramping. Many of the humongous swollen lymph nodes on the outer surface of the body have now become painful, so one has to be careful not to apply too much pressure on them while trying to sleep. The internal lymph nodes which are inside the torso have grown large enough that they have now begun pressing against various useful and interesting internal organs. And intense, almost uncontrollable itching.

My dog knows quite well when I am having a particularly difficult night. He lays close to me all night, always touching me, from a very light touch to solid snuggling. In the morning he encourages me to get out of bed by acting playful and behaving like a young puppy. He seems to understand that once I wake up things will get better.

My little black doggie has become my constant companion and my best friend. My partner. We are both constantly checking-out the other one. Little quick eye contact. Twice per day we either walk out in the undeveloped desert or at one of the nearby city parks. He doesn’t need a leash at all, even when we are walking on a sidewalk right next to a very busy street. But he has no problem with me putting the leash on him; some people are afraid of dogs, and there are many situations where it is dreadfully rude to let your dog run around off the leash.

My little friend has clearly evolved into a Service Dog. I didn’t teach him or send him off to some school. He is completely self taught, which often is the very most effective form of education.









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