I had a grand idea. Grand, I tell ya! Genius! I was so proud!
Although I was stoked with the completion of the first report of The Happiness Forecast, I expected the fall in participation. I knew it would come; it was only natural. So I brainstormed ways to counteract it. I put the word out on social media, but that made me feel more like a fly buzzing in people’s ears. I didn’t want to be an annoyance – not a good look if I’m trying to ask people how happy they are. But what if I put flyers out in my local community? I could actually start local… in real life. And that’s when it came to me.
I have a dog who I literally joke about not being loyal. “He’ll go home with anybody,” I often tell people who fawn over him. I’m only partially exaggerating. I gave him a home five years ago after a friend couldn’t keep him – it’s a long story and my friend was in an understandably tough situation. I was reluctant at first because I had just lost one of my two German Shepherds the year prior and was very content with my three-mile jogs and hikes with the other. And there was this other reason. I wasn’t a small-dog kind of person.
Rhino is short. And when I met him, he was very round (he has improved his health very much, thank you). Apple, my German Shepherd, and I were already bonded and we had similar interests. We were active. We woke up early and went for a run. In the evening, we took our long walks. Rhino had a smooshed face and reversed sneezed when he got excited. I didn’t think he’d fit in. But my friend’s situation wasn’t getting any better and Rhino had nowhere else to go. So finally, I shrugged my shoulders and agreed to take him into my home. What I didn’t expect was to have my heart stolen the moment he calmly walked up to me and put his little chin on my knee when I knelt down before him. His big brown eyes told me he loved me with all his heart. But what I also didn’t expect was to bring home yet another dog after Rhino.
My best friend’s mom passed suddenly. In her possession was his German Shepherd, Odie. My best friend was on a career path where he couldn’t afford a home that could house his 120 lb Odie, so his mom kept him. Well, in the midst of dealing with the sudden loss of his mom, he also had to figure out what to do with his beloved dog. So I took Odie too. Why not. I already took in a small dog that wasn’t really a dog because he was so small. Somehow, this trio managed to like each other just fine. And eventually, over the years I was left with just Rhino and he turned out to be the one who would save my heart from breaking completely.
In 2024, my best friend was finally able to secure a house and property. Odie went to live with him and took a piece of my heart with him. But just a month later, he would pass after contracting a flesh eating bacteria. His veterinarian worked diligently for a week, sending off bloodwork to specialists but before results could come back, Odie’s suffering was too intense and my friend made the right decision to let him rest. My heart was torn between empathy for my friend and regret for returning Odie to him. A selfish regret. But a year later, I would be in my friend’s shoes with Apple.
Apple was just under seven years old when she refused her food. After a day of that, I offered her chicken and rice. She liked that! But then she didn’t want it again the following day. I noticed the whites in her eyes turned yellow and I took her to the vet immediately. Her liver levels were in the thousands and I rushed her to the emergency vet. She fought her congenital liver disease hard for over a month. Through her feeding tube and follow-up appointments with internal medicine, overnights and even escaping the vet’s office once, I’d say she was a good sport. But in the end, as I’ll describe in another article, she told me it was time to say goodbye. Almost two years later, I’m still healing.
Rhino laid with me on my bed as I cried myself to sleep at night. He offered a quiet comfort. It was just him and me. In my grief, I found myself fighting the urge to adopt another German Shepherd. I even attempted to a couple of times, but I’m glad they didn’t work out. I have a dog who has bad knees. Luxating patella. He can go on walks, he might just have to stop when his knees get tired. His only weakness is food. Other than that, he’s perfect. He smiles at you, cries and does a little bounce when you come home. He welcomes anyone’s company and especially loves children. Just don’t offer him food because you won’t recognize him. He forgets that fingers are an extension of you and not an extension of the food.
I have a dog who believes he has a job and that job is to bring joy. So when I was busy trying to come up with ways to get more participation for The Happiness Forecast, I realized I have a literal happiness-bringer. We went live downtown a few days ago. Watching people’s faces just liven up with wide joyful smiles was amazing! Not everyone we encountered smiled and not everyone who did smile smiled big. But we did something. We changed something in people. We’re going to do it more often.
Rhino is now my Chief Happiness Officer. Or something.
More to come.
Leave a Reply