Your home may have been The first one that I'd ever seen; Your voice the first to teach, to praise, To guide me through confusing days. You're the one who taught to me What the We of a good dog ought to be. Your patient persistence all the while May have won my very first doggie smile. And now that I am off to roam With the family of my "forever" home, Yours is the home I will always dream of Your gentle hands, your smiling love, The way you coaxed tangles out of my coat, The sound of your voice, yes, every note. If they learn to love me the way that you do I will know that I owe my acceptance to you. Though my paws may wander far away, Yours is the home where I learned to stay.         --Kam Ellery, 2000 http://www.maeser.org (permission to cross post as as signature line is included)