On Boudica, in Honor of National Dog Day

Boudica is my friend.

I used to say about my dogs, “I have a dog.” With Boudica, this language doesn’t seem right. It’s more like “I have the honor of living with a dog named Boudica.”

Boudica was our first Great Pyrenees. Before we got her, I researched the breed for years. I checked out every book available in our public library. I read information online. I understood that Pyrenees were smart and difficult and loved to bark. I understand they are picky eaters. I understood they were very independent thinkers. But didn’t really understand these things until Boudica came to live with us. It was all of this and so much more.

I remember the first time I understood her capacity for language, for example. I was telling a story about something she had done that was kind of bad but still really funny. Because it was funny, my voice was uplifted, so I was surprised when Boudica came to me looking so ashamed about the story I was telling about her.

I said, “Oh, baby, no! It’s a sweet story,” and gave her love. Then, I wondered how much language she was understanding. She was very young when this happened, so I was really surprised. After that, Ron and I both just emphasized language learning with her. Ron does it extra with our puppy, Bairre. It’s adorable watching Ron pull something out of the oven and tell Bairre, “Hot. That’s hot.” Of course, we don’t know if he will share Boudica’s amazing capacity for language, but just in case, it’s good to give him a head start.

When we met Boudica in 2016 and brought her home, it was just love at first sight. She seemed so ready to just be with us. When the man put her in my arms, she just leaned in. I was madly in love with her. She was so beautiful. I couldn’t believe she was ours.

Of course, I had no idea what I was in for. I hoped I was getting someone to help us on the farm. I didn’t know I was getting a helper in life.

She comes from ancient breed. I read the Great Pyrenees breed goes back to about 1800 BCE and is so old there have been fossilized remains found. In those thousands of years, these dogs were bred to be independent and critical thinkers. Apparently, the shepherds could just leave their flocks with the Pyrenees for extended periods of time, and the Pyrenees would take care of things. They didn’t need the humans around to tell them what to do. They knew. I feel like that says everything, and I am in awe that I get to witness this kind of beautiful intelligence every day from my girl.

I can count on Boudica. I have hard time counting on people, but Boudica can be counted on.

She senses everything. Boudica had always been a daddy’s girl, and Gus was my baby boy. When Gus died so tragically, I leaned into Boudica, and she took care of me. We are incredibly close now. She knows what I need before I know it. She wakes me up from bad dreams. She watches the animals. She knows exactly what I mean when I tell her I need her to protect the ducks from the owls because I am running late with the peas. This summer, when we put the meat chickens out in their new home, they were very little. Ron said, “Boudica, take care of dad’s chickens,” and she ran out to them and started patrolling, weaving in and out of the chickens as if to say, “I’m here and will handle this.”

Interestingly, the chickens were not scared of her, and they had never seen a dog before. Wisely, they were scared of Bairre. He so wanted to play.

Boudica is a worrier like me. I worry about her for being a worrier, and I have no doubt that she worries about me for being a worrier. I’m pretty sure she’s convinced we can’t make it without her. She feels such a strong need to care for us. Truly, she helped raise our son. When he was little and would go outside for his walks to clear his head, we would tell her to “go watch her boy,” and she would. She wouldn’t take her eyes off of him.

I’m looking at her right now as I write this. She is sitting next to me, mostly relaxed, I think. I am going to go brush her because I have found recently that brushing her seems to help both of us relax, and as worriers, we really need that.

My goodness, she is beautiful. And I don’t even deserve her. Of course, do any of us deserve dogs? I guess all we can do is keep trying.