Even Working Dogs Can Be Cute

During this deployment, one of the things I’ve been working very hard at is finding the good in everything, the peace in every instant. I’m trying to put into practice a very Zen way of living in the moment and finding the positive under every rock. It seems to keep my stress down and takes pressure off the hubby because I’m much calmer when we can chat. He also should be given credit for telling me the good, “Baby, I’m not in any danger,” stories.

Today, I’d like to share one of his stories with you. There can be humor and life-affirming moments even in a war zone. The following is quoted directly from an email he sent…along with the permission to share it with you…believe me, I checked first! :-)

“So,

I was on a C-17 back to the Deid from Afghanistan and we flew back with
three bomb-dogs and their handlers. The dogs rode in the bay with us and
were not crated.

Our show-time had put us in the PAX terminal over-night and, as a result, no
one on the flight had gotten any useful sleep; it was morning before the
flight actually left.

So, once we reached cruising altitude and could un-strap and take off our
armor, a lot of us found empty spots on the deck and laid down. Only the
center pallet positions were being used, so there were pretty wide aisles
down each side of the aircraft, i.e. lots of floor space.

While they do run the heaters in the cargo-bay when they have passengers on
board, the aluminum floor of an aluminum airplane at 30-ish thousand feet is
pretty cold. When you have been up long enough, you don't care so much.

Naturally, the dogs are also on the floor and tend think that this aluminum
floor thing is somewhere between OK and kinda-sucks, just like the rest of
us.

So, about two-thirds through the flight I wake and move back to a jump seat,
having reached the point of being more cold than tired, and I see the point
of this whole story.

One of the guys on the deck (not one of the handlers, they had stayed
strapped in) was wearing a fleece and, during their snooze, one of the
working dogs had inched over to the far end of his harness (it was taut)
so that he could snuggle up against his back.

My movement must have woken up the pup, because he opens one eye, looks at
me. Looks at his handler. Then looks back at me and, to anthropomorphize
Kristen-style, gives me the "shhhh...don't tell him" look and scrunches up
closer to the guys he is leaning on.

Too cute.”

First, a note from the editor:

I don’t anthropomorphize anything, do I kitties? But, after reading the story over my shoulder, Neekie wanted me to share this with you.


“Blech! Dogs stink!”

Also, I had a picture in my head when my husband shared this story with me that the bomb dogs were German or Belgian Shepherds. So, it didn’t make sense that the big fluffy dogs would get chilled, even at altitude. The hubby then sent me this picture of what the dogs looked like. We think they were all Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, who, as the “hubband” told me, “were hired for their noses, not their coats.” And, as I think about it now, German Shepherds and equally fluffy dogs would expire in the heat of the Middle East, so the shorter coats of the CBR’s make terrific sense.



Besides, how cute are those noses??!!!

I hope what you take from this entry is that there will be all kinds of stories that you and your spouse will be able to share with each other during and after the deployment. Embrace them, they will become a part of your shared history, even though only one of you is present at the time. Learn to become story-tellers for each other. Try to capture the details of what you’re seeing and experiencing. Take the time to apply all of your senses so you can share these wonderful events with your partner. And, remember; listen closely when your love bug is sharing a story with you, too. He or she is trying to give you a gift of a long-distance moment.

Take care of each other!

Peace, love, and warm, snuggly bomb dogs to you all!