Do not leave your dog on a leash if you want him to be attached to you

Do not leave your dog on a leash if you want him to be attached to you. Albert Willemetz

Albert Willemetz was a French librettist, lyricist and scriptwriter, born in Paris on 14 February 18871 and died in Marnes-la-Coquette on 7 October 1964 (aged 77).

The dog is here the metaphor of a friend or any other life companion. It is not by forcing someone that one creates attachment. If you care about him, you must give him the opportunity to live with dignity. It is only through mutual trust that you create attachment and love. You can restrain a person with physical ties or put them in a cage, their spirit will continue to escape. However, if you create bonds of trust and a “cage of love and acceptance”, you will have succeeded in keeping that person’s heart and mind: he or she can be anywhere physically, his or her thoughts and emotions will be directed towards you.

Freedom is therefore one of the manifestations of love, whether friendly or romantic. By forcing your companion, you only show a will to possess, which leads to both alienation and unhappiness. True bonds that are worth having should only be the result of a consent to mutual respect and a sense of honour. The bonds of love between two beings must not prevent the expression of the deepest expression of each of their essence. Without respect for differences and trust through the freedom granted, there can be no fulfilling relationship. Albert Willemetz tells us about the leash that connects a master and his dog. It is an unequal relationship, in which the master opposes a coercive force. The hierarchy symbolised by this object prevents the expression of a sincere friendship which only occurs in a de facto equality. Love does not prevent differences, of course, they are even encouraged, so as to create a wonderful complementarity and understanding. However, nothing is possible when one of the parties is belittled or even inferiorised on the pretext of this difference (gender, origin etc.). A lasting union is possible in the total acceptance of these differences devoid of value judgements.