National Dog Day: The Magnificent Boudica

Day 109 of 365

I read this morning that it is National Dog Day, which seems like a great idea to me. I love seeing pictures of everyone’s dogs on social media today. I have a few friends who always post pictures and tell stories about their dogs online. I love their dogs to the moon and back. I haven’t met them in real life, but I love them.

Of course, there is no dog I love more than our Boudica. After we lost our Gus, also a Great Pyrenees, last year, I couldn’t function very well for some days. Ron mentioned getting another Pyrenees immediately. I said no. I said, let’s see what Boudica does. I’m glad we decided against a puppy at that time.

Gus was this bright star of a being, larger than life and casting a large shadow. You know people like this, right? The ones that you just love, that everyone loves, but no one else exists when they are around. That was our Gus, and Boudica, over the few short years we had Gus, was just gradually withdrawing into herself. I mean, we still saw her and loved her. She did her guarding work during the day, but in the evenings, she would just disappear to her room in the back of the house. I didn’t realize this was happening until Gus passed.

It took us a couple of weeks just to get her to come out to be with us in the evenings. Of course, she was heartbroken as well. Our whole family was broken without Gus, but I knew we needed each other to heal–and that included Boudica. So every night, we would coax her out of her room and make her hang out with us. Over time, this became the new habit, and now, Boudica is the star of the house–well, except for our kitty, Betty–but Boudica demands a lot of attention. And that’s the best.

I have no words to describe what it’s like to have a dog you can depend on the way we depend on Boudica. She learned from Gus how to watch for aerial predators, so she guards the chickens and ducks very well. She wakes us up at night if we are having bad dreams. We can give her pretty basic instructions, and she will understand and follow them. Her capacity for language inspires awe and wonder in me. I honestly can’t believe how much she can understand.

One time, I was telling a story about something kind of “bad” she had done. I was talking on the phone to my aunt and telling the story in a funny way, not upset at all and with a bit of a chuckle about the whole deal. I can’t even remember what it was Boudica had done, but I do remember this. Boudica had been listening to me talk, and when I told the story to my aunt, she dropped her head in shame and slowly walked away sadly and shamefully. My tone was not one that would indicated I was upset with her in any way. I was laughing about the story, so Boudica must have understood the story. At the time, this shocked me. I didn’t know dogs had that kind of capacity for human language. I have read more and now understand that some do, and so now, when we need Boudica to do something, we give her instructions. Isn’t that wild?

As you can imagine, our little family is very close to Boudica. She is loving and smart–and she can be really, really fierce. I forget, sometimes, that she’s a huge, tough dog. But, every now and then, I see her serious side when she is concerned about a threat, and I am in awe of that too.

Today, for National Dog Day, I am so thankful I have such a magnificent dog to write about. She is my best good friend and is truly a queen. How lucky am I that get to live a bit of my life with her?