| It's 2010 and I'm now somewhere between 12 and 13 (or is it 14?) years of age -- in human years that is! And, I'm a Golden-Collie mix though, truth be told (and dogs never lie), only my mom knows what the real mix in me is but even she might not have known. Most of the uncertainty of my age and composition is that I was "rescued" from a local animal shelter in 1998 after having been found "on the street." When I first moved to my new home and met my new humans, a married couple with a 10-year old son, I really wasn't in a good state of mind or on my best behavior. I didn't wag my tail and cowered whenever anyone made a gesture toward me, even if it was to scratch my ear or rub my head. Worse still, whenever I was left alone in the house, I inevitably destroyed something and, when on walks, would growl and make menacing moves toward other dogs even though they just wanted to say "woof" to a potentially new friend in their neighborhood. Then, something awful caused me to be reflective and introspective, express my feelings, take stock of my life and recognize my calling to help others, especially my fellow canines. My female human, whom some would call my "mom," became ill about five human-months after having rescued me and passed away ten human-months later. During her illness, there were always people in the house, which enabled the social animal in me to emerge. But, more impawtantly, her illness taught me to appreciate my life, both the good and the bad, and not dwell on what may have happened when I was a pupster. Rather, I realized that life, whether it be a dog's or human's, is precious; that we never really know how long it will last; and that we should live life to the fullest each and every day, looking back only to learn and to see how far we've come while keeping our snouts pointed forward, to the future and what may lie ahead or around the corner. And, I realized that it's impawtant to be happy because life's too short to have too many unhappy days. This realization led me to write "Ask Curtis" (with some assistance) to help canines and other animals, including humans and cats, by providing dog-sense advice to address some of the issues getting in the way of their happiness. Currently, I'm living in Lexington, MA with Dan Gersten, publisher of Dogwalk Press and my bestest of canine buddies, Buzz, a 4-1/2 year old English Springer Spaniel who's keeping me young and playful! |
| About Me! Don't You Just Love Barking About Yourself? I know most dogs do! |
| www.askcurtis.com |
To contact Curtis, please email him at curtis@dogwalkpress.com