Joan Rivers was a dog lover

I was never a fan of Joan Rivers.  Her sense of humor was always a bit too course for my liking and, in her recent years as a fashion critic, I found many of her comments to be septic and often downright rude.

Nonetheless, I sympathize with her family, friends and fans at her loss.

There is, however, one very positive thing I can say about Joan Rivers.  She loved dogs.  This goes to show that we may have common ground with people who, on the face of it, we dislike.  Anyone who loves dogs cannot be all bad; perhaps this fact alone will remind us to keep an open mind…

Joan Rivers and her dog, Max, who passed away earlier this year
(Photo by Chicago Now)

“Dogs are easier to love than people; they’re certainly more dependable,” Rivers once said in an interview with Chicago Now. “Once they love you, that’s it. A true friend in life is a dog.”

In her last known interview conducted in July of this year, Rivers spoke about her darker moments when, after the death of her husband in 1987 and a career that had bottomed-out, she contemplated suicide.  Her dog stopped her:

What saved me was my dog jumped into my lap. I thought, “No one will take care of him.” It wasn’t a friendly dog — only to me. I adored this dog. He was theoretically a Yorkie, his mother cheated. His name was Spike. He was the way you want your dog to be, devoted only to you. I was sitting in this big empty house in Bel Air, with a phone with five extensions which we no longer needed. I had the gun in my lap, and the dog sat on the gun.

An earlier photo of Ms Rivers with her dogs (photo originally from Architectural Digest)

Rest in piece, Ms Rivers.  I hope all of your dogs were there to meet you when you crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Kathleen Crisley, specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, Canine Catering Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand