Meet Yogi, my sweet little boy! We named him that not after Yogi the Bear, but because he seemed so serenely peaceful even as a puppy that we thought he was somewhat yogi-like, as in meditative guru type of dog. I thought it was odd, because he was still a little pup when we got him, but he had been neglected—left alone outside all day tied to a tree—so I thought maybe that had made him a more serious puppy. But soon after he first came to us, he started showing his goofy, playful side. It was nice to see that there was still a playful pup inside!
Technically we rescued him, but Yogi has done his share of rescuing. When I was going through deep grief over the loss of a loved one, Yogi was so comforting to me. He is a great hugger. He seemed to know when I needed his warm closeness; he would gently come to my side whenever I cried or felt overwhelming sadness. It was always a much-needed thread of compassion that Yogi eagerly provided, like a wise old soul.
He is the life of the party when we go to the dog park. Even my goat Iggy likes hanging out with Yogi. Our cat Pepsi loves Yogi as long as he demonstrates the proper respect due to her since she is the elder pet. Pepsi still hasn't forgotten the dog we had before Yogi, our beloved Golden Retriever Carmen; in that relationship, Pepsi was the young one, and it is a completely different dynamic than the way it is with Yogi. I'll have to talk about Carmen in another post, and then of course I would need to talk about Bamboo and Star who both came before all dogs in my life; they were the first two dogs I ever owned.
Ah, the beautiful, loving dogs I've known and loved...
