Learning About Humanity With Clifford

Kate and I are sooooo beyond blessed to have Clifford in our lives.

Just about 4 years ago, Kate and I watched her daughters dog for a week. He was (and remains) a pretty cool dude, a beagle of some sort with energy and floppy ears in spades.

At the end of the day we gave him back to Kate’s daughter, Clifford popped into our lives.

By way of an introduction if you’re reading us for the first time……Kate and I are a married couple in our 50’s whose relationship is Ethically Non-Monogamous (ENM). We’re swingers, our marriage is open; we have sex with other people. We’re in a committed relationship, and somewhere on the polyamorous spectrum; Kate has a boyfriend and is a Hotwife. It’s neither of our first marriages. We met in an AA meeting; we’re each more than a decade sober now. If you’re curious about how this all works, we talk about our relationship in varying degrees of depth in other posts. We have an email address listed in our “about” page if you would like to contact us.

Turned out that the day before the daughter of an old Army buddy had her baby, her dog had a litter of pups. When the pups were about 3 weeks old, she mentioned them on Facebook. Well. Kate and I took instant notice and after about a nanosecond of conversation decided to reach out and see if one was available. There was. We were looking for a female, and after an exchange of pictures, we decided on who we thought was to be Clifford.

The following weekend, Kate and I made the 6 hour drive to go meet Clifford. The pups would have been a month old at this point, and needed another month with their mom; a road trip to meet Clifford was a no brainer for us.

We got down there, and the joyous explosion that was close to a dozen pups (Clifford’s mom aced the reproduce thing) was just amazing. Each puppy-breath having little fuzzball was more excited than the next to meet myself and Kate. We picked out Clifford in the crowd and waited for an opportunity to engage one on one with her. Then, something beautiful happened.

One of the pups separated from the mob and came over to Kate and I. An adorable (well, they all were) little creature who couldn’t take her eyes off of us as she approached. She got to me, laid down on my feet and rolled over. Clearly this was who the universe wanted us to be with, and so this pup became Clifford. It worked out perfectly fine; no one had a claim on her yet. She had very distinctive markings and was easy to tell from the others.

The above pic of Clifford was from this day.

Soon enough, the next month passed and we found ourselves road tripping again, only this time we were bringing Clifford home with us. To this day, she LOVES going for a car ride. I’m sure the early on 6 hour drive, sitting and sleeping on Kates lap for much of it, has a good bit to do with that.

Turns out that both Kate and I, as well as everyone in our families, think Clifford is a once in a lifetime dog. While we’ve each been blessed with a line of awesome dogs over the course of our lives. Clifford is different; first among equals. More than once, either of us will be looking at her and think “Who are you?” Clifford has a spark that’s a rare thing.

Don’t get me wrong, she’s 100% dog, and does dog stuff. She looooves a good (or not so good) trash can. She has a decided tendency to roll in dead things, which is just awesome with her white coat. Some of what she finds to be a delicacy would make a billy goat puke. Speaking of puke, she’s on a fairly consistent every other week schedule.

She’s also consistently what’s best about dogs. She has an unconditional love and lack of mean spiritedness that’s universal. She has greeted every human she’s ever met as though they’re visiting royalty and she’s just beyond thrilled to meet them; for her, they truly are and she truly is. The lone exception to this is the Chow Hound Cat. Him and Cliff get along famously until there’s food in the equation. She’s been burned by his thieving ways before, and will not be again.

As I start this paragraph, she’s lying on the couch,(not a lot of wolf left in Clifford) in Kates spot, looking at me and debating a nap. I suspect the nap will win…..and it did.

Big yet typical day in Cliffords life today. She spent last night at Kate’s other daughters house. Kate and I were out at a nudist resort with John and Beth yesterday, and spent the night at a pleasant Airbnb. Cliff’s energy is always spastic when greeting a human, all the more so when it’s us returing from some adveneture or another. I typically end up bleeding a little bit, and this homecoming was no different.

Later in the day, Clifford was hanging out back catching some rays with Kate. I was playing one of my guitars and thru a window saw the Chow Hound Cat come running from the wood line like his head was on fire and his ass was catching. Out the other window I could see Clifford was on HIGH alert, and Kate was getting rapidly up as well. My first thought was a bear was just past the fence. Wouldn’t have been the first time. Ended up that a tree fell in the woods. Given Chow Hound, Clifford, and Kates reaction, I can only assume it did so in a loud grotesque military manner.

A grandbaby of our’s is right at 2 1/2. He’s known Clifford his whole life, and thanks to the modern miracle (I’ve lived overseas when phone calls were $2 a minute and snail mail was a thing, so yes, it’s a miracle) of FaceTime and Zoom, he’s seen Clifford his whole life.

As befits the lad’s status, he has been accompanied at bath time by a rubber duck. Additionally, all manner of rubberized farm animals are also tub friends. Among the animals is a black and white cow. Of course, his parents being the diligent parents they are, taught the lad the sounds the animals make.

Turned out he was slightly confused by Clifford’s striking resemblance to the bovine family. At some point, we asked him, on FaceTime, “What does Clifford say?” “MOO!!!” Was the emphatic response. This went on for a year or more, and it’s caught on video for posterity multiple times.

Well, as of this weekend the gig is up. When asked now, “What does Clifford say?” An equally emphatic “Ruff Ruff” is the answer. Absolutely one of those moments where the passage of time can fill your heart and bring a tear to your eye for the same thing yet for different reasons. It’s as it should be.

I’ve learned from Clifford that if I’m salty or short with her, 99.9% of the time, I’m the problem. She’s an excellent barometer for me and my headspace.

Clifford has been swinging with us. She’s turned all black outfits into walking mohair sweaters. She sat on bed for hours at a hotel one night while we went to dinner with a couple. Cliff was wowed by her 3rd story view of the comings and goings at a gas station across the street. We could see her in the window when we got back from dinner.

I’ve seen it said that a dog is your best friend for part of your life, but you’re their best friend for their whole life. Clifford is the first dog I’ve realized that with, and I do my best to live up to that with her.

She makes it ever so easy.

Thanks for reading!!! Be kind to yourself and others!!

Sam & Kate