By Jake the Rottie
1. My life is likely to last 10 or 15 years. Any separation from you will be very painful.
2. Give me the time to understand what you want from me. Do not break my spirit with your temper, though I will always forgive you. Your patience and understanding will teach me more quickly the things you want me to learn.
3. Have me spayed or neutered.
4. Treat me kindly my beloved friend, for no heart in the world is more grateful for your kindness than mine. Don�t be angry with me for long, and don�t be lock me up as punishment. After all, you have your job, your friends, and your entertainment. I have only you.
5. Speak to me often. Even if I don�t understand all your words, I understand your voice.
6. Please take me inside when it�s cold and wet. I�m a domestic animal and am no longer accustomed to the bitter elements. I ask for little more than your gentle hands petting me. Keep my bowl filled with clean water; I cannot tell you when I�m thirsty. Feed me good food so that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to be by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to share with you my life, for that is what I live for. However you treat me, I�ll never forget it.
7. Don�t hit me. Remember I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand, but I would never bite you.
8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I�m not getting the right food, I�ve been out into the sun too long, or my heart may be getting old and weak.
9. Take care of me when I get old. You will grow old too.
10. When I am very old, when I no longer enjoy good health, please do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having fun. Just see to it that my life is taken gently. And be with me on that difficult journey when it�s time to say goodbye. Never say, �I can�t bear to watch.� Everything is easier for me when you are there. I will leave this earth knowing with my last breath that my fate was always safest in your hands
