Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, December 26, 2020

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Mountain View News Saturday, December 26, 2020 


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges


Simply SIMON!

Yes, Simon is certainly a 
handsome guy! He probably 
knows it, because he likes to be 
king of the house and show the 
other kitties he’s boss! His size 
helps with this, because he’s a big 
boy. Yet, he is great with people 
when he gets to know them and 
likes to sit near them. He’s cuddly 
when he wants to be, and is 
easily held. He has no objections to going into a carrier. Simon 
is playful, and likes the cloth birds, but he’s just as happy if you 
drop something small, like a walnut, and will happily chase it 
around until it gets lost! Simon is very healthy and has shiny, sleek fur, like a mini-panther. 

Simon is about 1.5 yrs. and has more pictures on our website’s More Cats page. To apply, see 
our Adoption Procedures page at www.lifelineforpets.org. Can’t adopt? Please share and/or 
donate to our fun Giving Grid in honor of your own pet/s: https://www.givinggrid.com/
gt2020/.


TO LOVE YOUR DOG



Christopher Nyerges

[Nyerges is the author of such books as “Extreme Simplicity,” “Self-Sufficient 
Home,” “How to Survive An-ywhere,” and others. Information about his 
classes and books is available from Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041, or 
www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]



Recently, Dennis Prager talked on his popular radio show with listeners who called in about 
the love of their dog. Some loved their dog more than other people, and some said that while 
they loved their dog a lot, they placed people ahead of dogs. It was an interesting discussion, 
where Prager tried to find personal clarity on the issue of love of dogs. As Prager often says, 
he’s far more interested in obtaining clarity on an issue than getting others to agree with him.



At the end of the show, Prager concluded that people who have a great love for dogs do so 
only be-cause they haven’t developed the ability to love people. They, therefore – according to 
Prager’s conclu-sion – are loving dogs as a second-best to loving people, because they lack, or 
haven’t developed, the ability to love other humans.



Though Prager’s conclusion could be right in some of the cases, I knew it was incorrect. I am 
one of the dog lovers, and yet I do not regard myself deficient in the art of loving other humans. 
I think the reason that Prager came to this conclusion is most likely because he has never developed 
a close relationship with a dog! (However, I am just speculating on that point).



Dog are such unique beings that there is absolutely no reason why people cannot have deep 
relation-ships and deep love for their dog, without sacrificing love for other humans. In fact, I 
see no reason why the inquiry must be framed that way at all! 



In every case where I had a pet dog, we regarded the dog as a part of the family. I talked to the 
dog. I got to know its idiosyncrasies. I learned that dogs are just like people. There are some 
generalizations that you can make about all dogs, and yet, each is an individual, with their own 
preferences, and fears, and food likes and dislikes, and patterns of behavior. 



I think it was W.C. Fields who said you cannot fool dogs and children. This is because neither 
has the ability to lie or be deceitful. Furthermore, dogs have the ability to detect as aspect of 
human nature that lies just beneath the surface which other humans usually don’t detect, or 
choose not to. For example, I have often wondered why my dog will growl at one visitor to my 
home, but will be happy and playful with everyone else. What is the dog detecting? Even more, 
shouldn’t I be listening to what my dog is telling me by that growl?



Once when I was driving along a busy street in the business district, my dog Ramah suddenly 
perked up and zoomed in on one man who was jogging. She began to wildly and angrily bark 
at that one man. Why? What did Ramah see, or smell, or detect, in that man which I did not? 
Whatever it was, you’d be wise to observe what your dog notes, and don’t ignore it. 



I had a dog who lived with me when I lived alone, and since he was an older dog, my schedule 
was al-ways worked around him. I never stayed out too late, because he came in from his 
penned yard and came inside with me at night. I tended to his feeding and washed him. He 
was very much like a child. I developed a close and loving relationship with this dog – he was 
a purple ribbon pit bull named Cassius Clay.



I began to study Beatrice Lydeckers book, “What the Animals Tell Me,” and I began to apply her 
princi-ples of animal communication. All of this was a very revealing and insightful journey as 
I began to learn what it was like to think like a dog, and to attempt to view the world through 
his senses. And I felt such a great pain of loss when he died in my arms one Sunday evening.



And yet, none of that in any way deprived me of any deep human relationships. If anything, 
this en-hanced my relationships at the time, and allowed me to have even better relationships 
than I would have otherwise. Cassius Clay taught me to be a better person!



I will continue to listen to the broadcasts of Dennis Prager on the radio in the morning, because 
he is a deep thinker who seeks the answers to some of life’s most fundamental issues. But 
in this case about dogs, I encourage Prager to get to know a canine more intimately, and he’ll 
realize that love of humans never needs to suffer just because you also love a dog!

Pet of the Week

 
Even though the weather in Southern California 
is sunny, Snowball is the purr-fect cat for the 
winter season and beyond! This four-year-
old kitty will probably win you over with her 
snow-white fur and striking green eyes, but she 
also has a great personality. Snowball is the kind of 
cat who enjoys attention, and will head-butt you 
to get more. She’s mellow and easy-going, and is 
looking for a home where she can settle in and 
really come out of her shell. Snowball can’t wait 
to bring her chill demeanor to your home all year 
long! 

 The adoption fee for cats is $90. All cat adoptions include spay or neuter, microchip, and 
age-appropriate vaccines.

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care for 
your pet.

 View photos of adoptable pets and schedule a virtual adoption appointment at 
pasadenahumane.org. Adoptions are by appointment only, and new adoption 
appointments are available every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for the following week.

 Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters by 
phone calls or email. 


LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Bravo to Chris Nyerges. He's one of the best columnists in Mountain Views News. He's a totally well-
rounded resident who has been writing for years, when he wasn't leading us on local trips to trash cans

behind restaurants to show us how to survive in a pinch, or teaching us what not to eat if starving in 
the chaparral. 

Now he is giving us a lesson in his own life, from Catholicism to Buddhism to the origin of the word 'pagan' 
to solstice and back to Santa Claus jumping out of a comic book crossed with interfaith interculturalism.

Quite a trip, Chris. I would not have predicted this trajectory when we were both writing for the Altadena 
Chronicle. 

Best of all, you have shared with readers a generous spirit of true Christmas...loving ways to exchange 
real gifts with those we treasure.

Julie Parker, Altadena, CA 91001 


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