At first she thought it was a random lost puppy, and I'm known for taking in any animal in need of care, including birds. All of the neighborhood kids know to bring me creatures in need of assistance and they frequently do. Their parents won't let them take care of the critters so they bring them to me because they know I will. There are five or six neighborhood dogs that come straight to me when they escape. They know I'll cuddle them and get them back home, but they aren't happy at home. I treat them like individuals and their owners treat them like dogs - literally.
We, as humans, are charged with caring for the other critters in this world. It took a while for my wife to grasp that it was her dog. She had a similar reaction as in the video. The dog got her through some pretty rough times when I was in the hospital. Sometimes a cuddle is all it takes. She needed a lot of those cuddles. I've been so close to death that I no longer fear it at all. When someone dies, the deceased isn't among the people who grieve.
When I lost a 16 year old cat (old age, natural causes), my wife got me a kitten. He's coming up on 16 now himself. Ahead of this one's demise, she arranged for me to get two sibling kittens. I charged the senior with training them and he's done a very good job. It worked. Both kittens are naughty, disobedient, demanding, crap outside the litter box, wake me up at 3 in the morning, spill their food, get on the counters, claw at the wrong things, steal my socks and glasses, sleep with their butts in my face, and are lazy.
Part of the deal with critters is that you have to accept that you'll most likely out-live them and have to say good-bye one day. All you can hope to do is make their stay a pleasant one. Unfortunately, too many people don't see it that way. Those of us who do need to do it with passion. The world is short on kindness and compassion.
= new reply since forum marked as read
And I don't even like pugs