{"id":35861,"date":"2021-11-29T06:27:56","date_gmt":"2021-11-28T19:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/?p=35861"},"modified":"2022-07-26T04:45:35","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T18:45:35","slug":"why-do-dogs-have-shorter-lives-than-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/?p=35861","title":{"rendered":"Why do dogs have shorter lives than people?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-35862\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Welcoming_Committee-213x300.jpg\" alt=\"Welcoming Committee\" width=\"584\" height=\"823\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Welcoming_Committee-213x300.jpg 213w, https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Welcoming_Committee.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the answer:<\/p>\n<p>Being a vet, I was called to examine a 13-year-old Irish dog named Belker.<br \/>\nThe dog&#8217;s family, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little 6-year-old Shane were close to Belker and expected a miracle.<\/p>\n<p>I tested the dog and found out he was dying of cancer. I told the family I couldn&#8217;t do anything for him and offered to do the euthanasia procedure at home.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, I felt the familiar feeling in my throat when Belker was surrounded by family.<\/p>\n<p>Shane seemed so quiet, petting the dog for the last time and I was wondering if he would understand what was going on. In a few minutes, the animal fell peacefully sleeping to never wake up.<\/p>\n<p>The child seemed to accept Belker&#8217;s transition without difficulty. We sat for a moment wondering why the unfortunate fact that dog life is shorter than human beings.<\/p>\n<p>Shane, who had been listening closely, said, &#8220;I know why.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>What he said next surprised me: I had never heard a more heartwarming explanation than this. This moment changed my way of seeing life.<\/p>\n<p>He said: &#8220;People come into the world to learn to live a good life, like loving others all the time and being a good person, eh? Well, as dogs are already born knowing how to do all this, they don&#8217;t have to stay as long as we do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The moral of the story is:<br \/>\nIf a dog was his teacher, you&#8217;d learn things like:<br \/>\nWhen your loved ones come home, always run to say hello.<br \/>\nNever pass up an opportunity to go for a walk.<br \/>\nAllow yourself the experience of fresh air and wind.<br \/>\nRuns, jumps, and plays daily.<br \/>\nUpgrade your attention and let people touch you.<br \/>\nAvoid &#8221; biting&#8221; when just a &#8220;growl&#8221; would suffice.<br \/>\nOn warm days, lay on the grass.<br \/>\nWhen you&#8217;re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.<br \/>\nAnd never forget: &#8220;When someone has a bad day, stay silent, sit close and gently make them feel like you&#8217;re there&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This is the secret of happiness that, even if we don&#8217;t realize, dogs teach us daily.<\/p>\n<p>~ Written by Mark Ferrell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s the answer: Being a vet, I was called to examine a 13-year-old Irish dog named Belker. The dog&#8217;s family, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little 6-year-old Shane were close to Belker and expected a miracle. I tested the dog and found out he was dying of cancer. I told the family I couldn&#8217;t &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/?p=35861\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Why do dogs have shorter lives than people?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40099,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35861\/revisions\/40099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}