by Paul Radtke
A few years ago while my wife and I were spending a weekend in Atlantic City, we witnessed a very touching experience involving a couple of dogs which we will never forget. It was in the month of July on a very hot and humid day. It had to be about 90 degrees. As we walked along the boardwalk, we saw an elderly gentleman with his two Labradors approaching the beach area. The dogs were mates. The female dog had only three legs. She had lost one in an accident, as we learned later.
The man had a stick about a foot long, which he tossed up in the air for them to retrieve. As he threw the stick, the male dog would rush up to it and then wait for his mate to hobble up and retrieve it to his master. They did this repeatedly in the sweltering heat.
After a while, the elderly man got tired of throwing the stick in the hot sun and decided to give the dogs a well-deserved rest. So he put his stick away and sat down in his beach chair and began to read his newspaper. Meanwhile, the male dog scratched and dug a good-sized hole near him in the beach sand to rest in as it was much cooler.
Being a true gentle-dog, he didn’t use the hole for himself. Instead he let his mate, who could not dig her own, lie in the hole. He then proceeded to dig another hole beside her for himself. The two dogs then affectionately laid next to each other cooling off in the wet sand. Their master then patted the male dog on his back and said “good boy,” and went on to read his newspaper.
As years go by we always remember how compassionate the male dog was to his mate. It was very touching. Being dog lovers, we will never forget it. If humans would only be so considerate, maybe this world would be a better place to live in.
