Life Lesson from a Shelter Dog

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! Ken and I went to an afternoon dinner at a friend's house but there was enough time this morning for my weekly outing with Bailey, a nine year-old Collie/Husky/Akita/& I think a dash of Chow mix. Since she has been at the RBARI shelter since November, it is important to get her out in the world as often as possible. Many of my fellow volunteers bring "their" dogs home, sometimes all weekend or for an all day hike and a swim or a winter snowshoe outing. Our aging cats would not tolerate a dog, so Bailey and I roam the trails of nearby parks instead.

We have been doing this every weekend for three months and I see a big difference in her behavior. This dog was not well socialized before being surrendered to the shelter. She can be fearful and occasionally aggressive with other dogs. I am surprised at what she spooks at: a stick across the path in the woods, parked trucks, men in general and a couple of weeks ago, she was shocked at the little wavelets on a lake. As we walk the trails, there are plenty of other people with their dogs, some on leash (yay) and some not (boo) but it gives us a chance to practice being in polite society. I try to distract her by keeping her attention on ME by using lots of turns, sit commands, treats, reverse walking, anything to keep from looking, and lunging, at other dogs. The saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" does not apply to Bailey. She is getting it!

While we walked, I was doing my usual mental self torture routine about finances, work, home, repairs (you know the drill) and the coulda-shoulda-woulda list of past decisions, which is a bad habit I cooked up awhile ago. Suddenly, I thought of a question my sister asked me yesterday: What would it feel like to have the questions answered? Not where would you live or what you would be doing or who would you be doing it with, just...what would it feel like?

Don't you love this question? It is simple, peaceful, grounding. And I suddenly realized, when I angst and fret, I have been turning to that question and it feels like God is doing with me what I do with Bailey: Get my attention, reverse, sit still, walk over here, stop, sit again, LOOK AT ME...and not the unanswerable questions unleashing themselves whenever I am alone.
 
As much as Bailey enjoys jumping into my station wagon every weekend to head for the hills and romp in the woods and snack on hot dog treats, I am clear about who is benefiting from our association more. 

Thanks, Bailey.

 And thank you, CC....