Pyrenees-Saint
Bernard and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Most large dogs ignore Barclay’s constant pawing for attention, but not this dog. Aside from their size, Sophie and Barclay could be mother and son. The fur is the identical. Its texture is the same: soft and fluffy. Slightly wavy. Beautiful to the touch. The coloring is identical: patches of auburn painted on new fallen fluffy snow white.
Watching Barclay and Sophie following each other around the crowded room on Thanksgiving after the huge meal at the retirement center lightens the air in the room and makes me thankful for these amazing creatures who we presume know nothing about conscious acts of thanksgiving, but who demonstrate the simplicity of joy and relationship that too often escapes families of the species that doggedly presumes its superiority to the canines.
We are thankful for the momentary intrusion into the relationships we take for granted. Joyful for the shared DNA and the union of two dogs who couldn’t be more different or more alike, an attraction of opposites whose fur and color mysteriously share the same DNA. Caught up in the ecstatic union of self-forgetful play that is everyone’s desire.
Footnote on the photograph:
The photograph was published by The Ipswich Star with the caption “King Charles Cavalier Spaniel Fred meets St Bernard Chopin at the Landguard Dog’s Day on Sunday, 19 May” with the following description by the photographer.
“I have to say I love this photo. I stopped to take a photo of St Bernard Chopin whose owners where feeding him his own ice cream at the Landguard Dog Day when he flopped down and Fred, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, a fraction of Chopin’s size came right up to his face sniffing away.
“Their colouring was so close it was perfect.”
Views from the Edge 
Gordon, CKCS have some real charm. Susan and I are investigating acquiring one. Advice? Breeder?
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Jim, They’re wonderful. Great charm. Want to please you. But advice? Get an ADULT. Puppy-dom is often very fun and produces lots of laughter, but it is a pain in the neck. He always wants attention. Goes out all the time – in and out, in and out. Treat. Trick. Throw the ball. Fetch the ball. Sit. Down. Roll over. De ja vu all over again all day long, except when Dad takes nap and he sits quietly in his kennel and falls asleep. No suggestions for a kennel. Go online to Cavalier Rescue sites to see what’s available in your area. Or, if you too big dogs really think you’re up for the rigors of training a puppy from scratch, check out the local Cavalier club and inquire about breeders. Whether adult or puppy, you’ll love the Cavalier’s affection, intelligence, playfulness, and trainability.
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I know we are supposed to be the “higher” life form, with soul and all that, but the longer I live, the more convinced I am that we have a long way to go to equal the so-called animals…
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B.J., Years of experience with dogs and cats leave me to the same conclusion. My friend Steve always reminds me that the pets we so love have been domesticated by humans. A pack of wild dogs is a scary thing, like the feral cats that prowl the woods behind our home. But I say there’s little difference between the dog packs and the human packs. They share violence. But the human violence takes increasingly “superior” forms – delivered by handguns, drones, and missiles our minds have invented. I’ll take the dogs. -:) The assumption of species superiority is a prideful illusion by which we seek escape from the web of Nature. We ARE animals, and we don’t like it.
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You are such a thoughtful person and put those thoughts together so beautifully. Thank you.
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Thank you, Barb. Greetings to Carolyn.
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