{"id":239,"date":"2018-09-12T22:16:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T02:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=239"},"modified":"2018-09-12T23:13:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T03:13:39","slug":"morag-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=239","title":{"rendered":"Morag"},"content":{"rendered":"

My Movie – Small<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018How can you tell them apart?\u2019 The oft asked question from other walkers. Three dogs, then two, now one \u2014 so the task is not so hard. . . now. Morag died today. And so it seems time to reflect on what made her unique and memorable and irreplaceable.<\/p>\n

She and brother Oban joined our household twelve years ago. The calculated indifference of her sib and the casual arrogance of adopted \u2018mother\u2019, Martha were never a part of Morag. Alert, attentive, always questing for the \u2018right answer\u2019, she strove to please \u2014 hardly a Westie hallmark. Ears erect long before her sib\u2019s, at mere weeks of age, signalled that she was already \u2018on duty\u2019. And never stood down. <\/p>\n

The \u2018C\u2019mon pups\u2019 or rattle of the treat jar saw her first to the door \u2014 as brother ambled up behind, in his own time. Heart on her paw, no secrets in her. The understated held no interest for her. Walks were never complete without the Westie equivalents of snow angels in Winter, dewy grass baths when the seasons warmed. On her back, wriggling, thrilled with the sensation, beyond content to be outside and with her people. The \u2018abundant\u2019, embracing, perpetual puppy. <\/p>\n

Food was so figural to Morag. Larger, stronger, more athletic than her brother, she fuelled her body to the max, \u2018eating for two\u2019 \u2014 and often eating twice, the waste not, want not motto regularly seeing her clean up Obie\u2019s leavings. At those rare times when appetite was off, a guttural growl would warn off anyone eyeing her supper: \u2018If I can\u2019t have it, neither will you\u2019 the clear message. Instinctive or just proactive, the ritual \u2018burying\u2019 of the uneaten was a frequent sacrament, against a day or time when she would choose to \u2018dig it up\u2019, to \u2018unearth\u2019 from under the placemat or rug. And this was a dog who drank as she lived, with her whole being. Nothing dainty or tentative here, gulping as if parched for days. <\/p>\n

Pavlov\u2019s puppies haven\u2019t a patch on Morag. The (obviously) distinctive rustle of romaine packaging or rice cake wrapper would pull sister and brother from the farthest reaches, happy to sit, stay, or perform any other required price of admission, for the lettuce spine (leaves always chewed and rejected) or the 10 p.m. bedtime wafer. <\/p>\n

\u2018Westie TV\u2019, to the uninitiated, the picture window facing the street, was a favourite perch, occupying sister and brother endlessly. At times, territorial \u2014 warning the interloper with her piercing bark \u2014 or just curious about the world\u2019s projection on her screen, she catalogued and guarded against and observed lifetimes of kids, dogs and owners, squirrels, and seasons. <\/p>\n

And she loved. To cuddle on couches at nap time; her longtime Westie friend Kirby; long, river walks; car rides. And to greet, be it her characteristic, rapid fire bark as an adult or an enthusiastic puddle as a puppy, it was no secret that you\u2019d arrived and had been sorely missed. And most of all, the family together. Her people on separate floors would find Morag halfway placed on stairs, the glue that held us as one. <\/p>\n

As with any sibs, the pendulum swung from a mutually protective solidarity \u2014 a don\u2019t mess with my brother fierceness \u2014 thru\u2019 literal \u2018dog fights\u2019 should Morag inadvertently disturb her brother\u2019s sleep; or pique his moody bully. \u2018Tip toeing\u2019 down the hallway, surrendering her bed to him, or just choosing to \u2018sleep elsewhere\u2019 betrayed a lifelong deferral to her grumpier sib. And I\u2019m sure it\u2019s not just we who grieve and miss Morag. The flat-out races round the house and yard, jubilant puppies again, will be her brother\u2019s loss as well. <\/p>\n

Morag\u2019s courage and desire not to disappoint marked her character to the end. If a brave front is in a dog\u2019s repertoire, her attempts to rally, to uncomplainingly comply with the probes and prods, pills, needles (even acupuncture!), and pictures were proof of it. And finally her acceptance and trust in her people\u2019s judgment allowed her dignity to survive.<\/p>\n

How do we tell them apart? It\u2019s easy. She\u2019s uniquely all these things.<\/p>\n

September 10, 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Movie – Small \u2018How can you tell them apart?\u2019 The oft asked question from other walkers. Three dogs, then two, now one \u2014 so the task is not so hard. . . now. Morag died today. And so it seems time to reflect on what made her unique and memorable and irreplaceable. She and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions\/245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}