Sunday, December 9, 2018

Sully is our December 9, 2018 Pup of the Week

After the passing of President Geoge H.W. Bush, the country was moved by a picture of his service dog Sully lying near the casket giving his last true measure of devotion.  It was a moment that people from each side of the divided political spectrum agreed showed the generous spirit of both dog and man. Of course, someone had to immediately try to darken that image.

Ruth Graham from Slate.com decided to do some fact checking about Sully and 41.  She wrote that people should not waste emotion on Sully since he had only been assigned to the President for six months ago.

What the writer did not understand is that six months can be a lifetime of love between a human and dog. Usually, it takes six minutes, or even six seconds to for parents and pups to bond.  I try to shy away from comparing dogs with children since obviously, the loss of a child is much more devastating, but would anyone say that a mother should not mourn the loss of her six-month-old child?

People who do not understand the bond between man and dog, which become stronger when a service dog is part of the equation, should not write about it.  I know this is the age of social media when not only does every opinion need to be heard but liked and retweeted until we are inundated with foolish ideas and phony facts, but some of these opinions need to be covered up and never surface.

I requested to visit Sully in his dreams.  It was a long wait. Sully was watching over his dad, who, with great fanfare, had joined us in the immortal world.  Finally, Sully’s duty was done for the day, and he lay down to rest. I slipped into his dreams.

I asked him what it was like being a service dog for a former President.  “Oh, that didn’t matter to me,” Sully said. “He was just my dad. I knew he was important, but he could have been homeless.  It doesn’t matter. He was someone who needed help, and he became my best friend.

“There are a lot of people who love him as much as I did,” Sully said.  “I can’t believe the endless amount of people who have come to pay their respects to him.  Every human wants their dog to be the most liked pet in the world and we dogs want the same for our parents.  When I saw all the people in line, I I knew my dad was indeed one of the most popular people in the world.

 I asked him if he minded going to another family.  “That’s my job. Usually we dogs want to go before our parents, but in this case, it is better that the parent goes first.  Because they become so dependent on us, if we go to the Bridge first it is just devastating. Also, we should be able to help as many people as possible.”

Finally, I asked him about the Slate article.  “I don’t let that bother me,” he said. “Some humans don’t understand, but most do, and those are the ones that matter.”
Sully awoke.  He needed to sit watch over his dad again.

A great man has passed, but a great dog survives, ready to help out the next human, even if they are ordinary and poor.


It is the love of a dog.

11 comments:

  1. Thank you Foley this is so beautifully written. Such a wonderful tribute to our loyal friends, companions and helpers. Lots of love from the mountain Kathy and Enzo

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  2. We are pretty sure that Mr. Bush and Sully would each have been very happy with each other if it had only been for a few days. It is obvious that Sully had great love for the President. We loved your post.

    Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber

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  3. Sully is our hero too and has the edge for Golden Poodle for the month

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  4. Obviously that person knows nothing about the bond between a person and their dog. Our hearts go out to Sully, we know he loved his master.
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  5. we cried as we read about Sully... and we send him the biggest hug of slice earth...

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  6. I finks the photo of Sully there is such a heartwarming one that any pet owner would understand!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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  7. I am sure dear Sully will take all the wisdom he absorbed from our great late president on to his next assignment. May President Bush R.I.P. and Sully find another great home and person to bond with and care for.

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  8. Sully is very special and does great work!

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  9. What you say here is what should have been said all over the media about Sully the good, faithful service doggie. The amount of hate talk from the media in this country is dreadful, despicable, and downright wrong! You would think the internet and social media would bring people together, as it does in Blogville, but it seems to have done the opposite. Why would anyone deliberately twist the meaning of Sully's service into something something so banal is beyond me!

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  10. So beautiful ����❤️❤️������������

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  11. Six months ? You could meet a friend an only know them for six months and be devastated by their loss ! What a naive/ignorant statement ! It mattered neither to the dog or the man !

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