Tender-ish

Yesterday I had another magical experience at the dog shelter. There’s this female dog-quite small, plain in looks but very adorable. I don’t know what has happened to her before she got to the shelter but it must have been dreadful. Her neck is completely naked-there’s no fur on it, just bare skin. I suppose she has been kept on a tight leash for years. Poor thing. She has a very sunny disposition but the moment you put a leash on her neck and she completely freaks out. She pulls back in attempts to break free, she chokes-it’s simply not possible to walk her in a calm manner as the other dogs. One of the regular volunteers said she’s always been like that and that sadly she shows no improvement. And that is why yesterday he gave her to me. “See if you can do something with her.” I picked her up, fondled her, talked to her, told her how beautiful she was, how lovely she was. I carried her in my arms for some 30-40 m and put her on the ground. I made sure the leash around her neck was loose and invited her to walk. And she did! She walked so confidently as if she was competing in a dog show. Now and then we had to stop for an encouraging word and a caress and after that she’d walk again effortlessly. We made 3 rounds and she was perfect. One of the volunteers said “I don’t believe my eyes. What you did with her is a miracle.” That felt good; really good.