Once upon a time, there were songs of love on the radio.

Once upon a time, there were TV shows that made us feel good, movies that inspired us and books that make us think.

Once upon a time, people lived on farms close to nature and they had pets. If they didn’t live on farms, there were zoos, pet shops, county fairs and all kinds of places for young animal lovers to go.

Have you ever wondered what you would be like without dogs? Thinking back on all the fun, trouble and adventures that shaped your life, have you ever wondered how you would feel inside – how you would feel about life and the world around you – if it wasn’t for the animals in your life?

Those of us who really love dogs can hardly imagine such a life. And we shouldn’t. But, if we could imagine a life without dogs, pets and a closeness to nature, is it even possible that we would have anything near the range of emotional feelings that we do now?

That’s a good question ….

I didn’t think of it myself. That profound question was asked by a little girl at a recent Expo where I was signing books and smiling away at all the interesting people. As I often do at such events, I bring along clay from my studio and make a dog or a horse with my sculpting tools. People love seeing how a piece of clay can be shaped into something meaningful, and it’s a great way of showing how we can change just about anything we set our minds to in life. Everybody’s an artist when it comes to shaping our own lives.

I was busy making a clay figurine of a puppy and a group of kids gathered around to watch. “Do you like dogs?” I asked. Oh, yes, was the answer.

“What kind of dogs do you have?” I asked, working on my clay figurine and thinking I might shape it into a puppy like their own.

I didn’t hear anything.

Had they walked away?

Looking up, I saw the kids standing there as if they hadn’t heard my question. I spoke louder, just in case they hadn’t heard me over the crowd. “What kind of dogs do you have at home?” Again, my question drew nothing but blank expressions, as if it had been directed to someone else in the crowd and not to the kids standing right in front of me.

An odd feeling went through me. And I knew – I knew as surely as if it had gone all the way through my mind and into my fingers – that these kids – these beautiful kids – weren’t being strange or rude. They just weren’t answering me because they had nothing to say.

Of course, the sleuth in me couldn’t resist a challenge and, as I kept shaping the clay puppy in my hands, I asked them if they were enjoying the pet expo. Oh, yes!

Pressing further, I asked who had brought them to see all these things … the answers were varied: parents, aunts and uncles, neighbors ….

I asked if their parents, aunts and uncles or neighbors had puppies at home.

No, but a few of them had dogs when they were growing up. A few of them had dogs or cats or birds now. And a few had fish.

Interesting, I thought. The grown-ups had pets, but these kids didn’t. How did that happen?

Was this a sign of the times that we can draw any conclusions from, or was it just a matter of chance that kids are growing up without real animals in their lives? You know, it’s a lot different having a clay figurine of a dog in your room than it is having the real thing flopped on the floor next to your bed. Having a figurine or a picture is a lot different from touching a pet that breathes and barks and wags its tail. Growing up in places where pets aren’t allowed is a lot different from the raw reality of hoping your dog will be spared when its life is hanging on a thread and the vet tells you it’s up to mother nature and your own prayers now. All of this is how our emotions are triggered. It’s how our hearts are opened and how a sense of love is developed within us. Is it taught in school? Is it taught in church? Or is it something we find for ourselves?

The little girl I mentioned?

She was the brave one of the bunch.

Slowly … hesitating at first … she reached out her hand and rested it on the table where I was working. As I talked about playing in the fields with my dogs at home and taking them to dog shows and having fun, I pretended not to notice that little hand moving closer. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to frighten her or make her feel as if she was doing anythng wrong. But … I was hoping.

I put ears on the figurine of what was, by now, the likeness of a cute puppy and I put a tail on it. “You know, a dog’s tail is a funny thng,” I said. “Did you ever see a dog wagging its tail?” I asked the kids.

A few heads shook, no. A few eyes remained blank or loooked off into space.

“Well, a dog wags its tail when it’s happy,” I said. “Do you know what makes a dog happy?” By now, the little hand was resting beside the clay puppy.

Heads were shaking, no, and as I set down the ay figurine and looking at the other kids, the little girl picked it up. She picked that clay puppy right off my table and held it with the oddest expression in her lonely eyes.

Curiosity had been sparked. The light wihin a mind had been illuminated.

Nothing bad was going to happen to that clay puppy. I knew that. Even if fell to the floor and broke into a million pieces, it woudn’t matter because – just like our own lives and just like crazy dog laws being forced on us by authorities wanting to break down the emotional bonds that make us strong – clay can be made again into anything we want it to be.

As new people come up through the ranks, do they have compassion? Do they have conscience? Do they understand the varieties, emotional depth and spiritual height of love? As long as we have parents, aunts, uncles and neighbors who grew up with dogs, the world will be OK. I knew it. I believed it.

As long as we have children who can touch and hold and smile over another form of life, there is hope because those children grow up. They, too, become teachers and parents and lawmakers. They, too, become authorities deciding for the rest of us what is “acceptable” and what is not in a society that is going from colorful to bland.

We are the keepers of love and we teach those around us. We are the ones who keep feelings and emotions alive. As long as children have puppies, every color of the rainbow will reflect in their eyes and in how they look at life.

These are exciting and challenging times for dog lovers. No law has ever been written that can’t be changed and some of the greatest innovations and break-throughs are yet to unfold. Believe in that. Count on it and bless those brave little kids we’re mentoring. They’ve got a big job ahead and, when it’s their turn to speak their minds, we’ll holler as loud as we can: “On with the show!”