Bentley: The Greatest Teacher I’ve Ever Had

I Was Pissed When I Found Out

This story starts off with me being a Freshman in high school. I was at one of my friend's houses and we were sledding down their hill. It had to be sometime in the middle of the winter.

When I walked back to the top of the hill I received a text message from my family.

They told me that we got a dog. Now most people would be instantly so excited and ecstatic, but no not me.

I was pissed. I was so angry. I was complaining to my friends about it and couldn’t believe my family just went and got a dog. Especially without me even knowing about it.

I came to find out later we adopted a yellow lab, and my sister was debating between two names for him. Buddy, or Bentley.

She decided on Bentley.

First 6 Months Of Bentley Living Here

The first six months of living with Bentley were quite a blur. What I do know is that I apparently hated him, and didn’t want anything to do with him.

I didn’t want a dog and didn’t like him one bit! My family laughs at me now because he was in his cute little puppy stage during this time. As you can see from the photos above. They also laugh at me because I love him so much now!

I don’t remember what really changed with Bentley, but I started liking him. I think it was because he was just irresistible to unlike.

I mean what can you not like about him? Aside from him being annoying here and there. Even when he does that, it's cute and funny.

But he was an excited little sweetheart! He would always run over to the top of the stairs and make sure to greet me with his wagging tail when I got home and was so fun to rile up and get him to be funny and troublesome throughout the day.

I started realizing, that no matter how awful of a day I was having, Bentley never stopped being the same loving dog.

“He was a consistent presence in my life that I wasn’t used to. You see humans can be all over the place all the time. No, not Bentley. He was constantly loving me and caring about me, even if he just was angry at me for not giving him food from the table.”

I Didn’t Appreciate Him Much After

After the first six months of Bentley’s life, I started liking him more and appreciating him a bit more. I loved messing with him and playing games with him. I haven’t truly learned to appreciate him for all he has done for me yet though. This took quite a bit.

There was this one strange experience about three years into Bentley's life when I saw a deer struggling in the middle of the street. It is traumatizing to talk further about because It just breaks my heart.

For some reason, I was heartbroken about the deer, it broke my heart to see it suffering and in so much pain. Ugh, just horrible and heartbreaking. I hope that angel is now in heaven loving it up there.

The significance here is before I had Bentley I never would have cared about the suffering of another animal. Bentley taught me to love other animals and treat them with respect.

Even to this day, I will spend 10 minutes trying to get an insect safely out of the house without harming it. I used to never think twice and just smack it with a racquet or whatever else would get rid of it.

After having Bentley it's like I never want anyone sharing this planet to experience death or pain at my hands. It breaks my heart. Don’t get me wrong, if a bald-faced hornet is on my ass, you bet I’m going to put myself first against those bastards.

Lesson Number 1: All Species Sharing This Planet Deserve to Be Loved And Cared For

It was The First Time I Remember Missing Bentley Seriously

It was my Freshman Year of College and Bentley had to be a little over five years old now. I was going home for winter break and would be finishing up my first semester of college.

I had a great time catching up with friends and seeing what they were up to in their own lives after all of our semesters away at college.

When I went back to college early for Track and Field, I was feeling pretty sad and lonely. I cried a bit and missed having Bentley for the first time ever really.

This was the start of my struggling to leave Bentley.

I Was Going Through Hell in College

It was my sophomore year of college and I was really struggling at the beginning of the semester. My genius self decided to overextend myself and put myself through a rigorous semester of academics, work, collegiate athletics, and after-school leadership obligations.

I got burnt out quickly and badly. I got pretty depressed again and felt just horrible. I ended up finishing the semester feeling pretty wrecked.

I went home and spent time with Bentley and just played video games the entire time pretty much to unwind and process the wildness I just put myself through.

Lesson Learned, I Am Not A Super Human and Should Stop Trying to Prove To People That I Am.

I’m going to just skip over my winter break of junior year as I don’t remember much from it honestly. Who knows, Bentley could have done so much for me then, though I think I pushed him away during this time. For reasons I am uncomfortable sharing and talking about to this day.

Senior Year Was A Disaster, and COVID Was The Cherry On Top

My Fall of senior year was pretty rough for me. I don’t feel comfortable talking about what happened, but I just was not doing well then. I ended up finishing college from home because my depression and anxiety were unbearable.

During this time, I spent a lot of it with Bentley. I would walk around places with him, just take my time with him, and truly be present with him. I allowed him to be a dog. To sniff and smell whatever he wanted to, and took our time walking around the house.

We began doing everything together during this time. “It was like the time I spent with him was healing me of the trauma and mental health explosion I was experiencing.”

I began creating a hiking schedule for him. I realized how happy he was when he was able to be out in nature. I started realizing that when I could make him happy, it helped make me happy when I had piles and piles of anxiety and depression beating down on me for so long now.

Next Life Lesson: Bentley Taught Me That Helping Others Can Heal Your Soul

Quince Story With Bentley

I could share a million stories to sum up how Bentley is as a sassy, cute, adorable, sweet, naughty, excited dog, but I will just share one.

One day my neighbor was having a Quinceanera for his daughter, and we all had to leave Bentley home alone.

Since it was COVID times the Quince was outdoors in his backyard. It was beautiful, to say the least.

Next door, Bentley couldn’t really see us, but he might have from the windows in the back.

It was about an hour in, and all of a sudden we saw Bentley appear at the Quince out of nowhere.

“Bentley, where the hell did you come from?” We were questioning one another about how he got here. Did someone come home and let him out? No, that couldn’t have happened because no one was home to do that.

Came to find out, that Bentley made a hole in the screen door because he wanted to be with his family so bad! A class story about him being naughty, adorable, sassy, cute, and determined!

Now I Can’t Leave Him

Bentley is about to celebrate his 11th birthday in a month. Over the last three years, I have had problems falling asleep at night. Not so much this past year but when he was 8, and 9 years old I would ball my eyes out many nights because I knew he was getting older. I knew his time to depart this planet was getting closer.

I couldn’t imagine life without him. It was impossible. For all he has done for me. I realized I needed to spend as much time with him as possible. For all he has done for me in the past. He has helped me through my own versions of hell. I couldn’t let him miss out on living the best possible life he could live.

So I made sure to spend as much time with him as I possibly could. Making sure he was outside, sniffing and enjoying the fresh air. Making sure he could swim in the pool, and travel around!

I have dedicated my life to this dog because he has done nothing but love me.

From the start of me disliking him so much, to loving him and not leaving him, he has taught me priceless lessons that would have been impossible for anyone else to teach me. Bentley is the greatest teacher and I cannot wait to celebrate his 11th birthday!

As he gets older, I continue to make sure he goes on his daily hikes with Alfie, and that Bentley gets the love and attention he deserves for all he has done for me!

He still greets me at the door every time I come home with his cute wagging tail and a toy/someone's shoe/blanket in his mouth.

“We are beyond blessed to have animals in our lives. We didn’t save them, they saved us”

©Johnny Poitras

Thank you so much for reading this story of mine! I hope you have a beautiful day and if it's not going well I am sending you loving, peaceful, and healing vibes your way! Take care and please love yourself

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