A Dog's Life

He was an unexpected but welcome addition to our home. The home he came from had turned out to be quite unsuitable for him, as a 18 month-old cross terrier. The old couple couldn't cope with him. He had come to them from a Rescue Centre. In his original home he'd suffered abuse at the hands of children and the abuse had left him with a great deal of emotional and psychological damage. The old couple were quite desperate for him to leave their small bungalow with it's equally small, confined garden.

We took him on and it was quite wonderful to see his reactions when he walked into our home and garden for the first time. In the normal way he searched and sniffed his way around, checking his new environment out. Very quickly he settled down with us, not showing the least sign of distress at this change in his circumstances. He now had the run of a fairly large garden and the ground floor of our house. He seemed to be relaxed and happy.

His happiness was marred, however, because he still lived with the fear of the abuse that he'd originally suffered. This showed itself in his regular aggressive reaction to noisy, shouting children. He also had problems with certain types of people. We realised that it was important for him and us that he was trained out of his problems, for his sake as much as others. The training he has received and is receiving has seen him progress from a frightened animal, barking his way around walks to a shield winner for the best improved dog in his Training School.

But while all this was going on 'Lucky' as we named him was proving his worth to us. My partner had suffered thyroid cancer two years previously and had had extensive surgery to remove the cancer. In these cases the follow up treatment and general health of one who undergoes it is quite devastating. One is left in a state of chronic fatigue and this was the state of my partner when Lucky came into our lives. I'd thought and hoped that a dog like him might be just what was needed to help her move out of her state of debilitating tiredness and improve her quality of life.

In the first few weeks of his coming the walks they took together were a great strain. He was still quite untrained and strained at the leash, almost uncontrollably. At the same time his straining and pulling took its toll on my partner who was just beginning to walk small distances again for the first time in over two years. They were an unlikely pair because of their differing needs at this stage.

In the months that have followed I have been gladdened to see the remarkable change for the better in my partner's health and well-being. She walks Lucky at least twice a day over good distances and at the speed of a power-walker. She and I are delighted that she has lost a considerable amount of weight in those same months. When they are out walking together nowadays they are a well-matched pair. They share a great bond. Over these months he has become a far happier dog and she, a far healthier person. In my view Love has been at work, flowing between them and lifting them both onto a healthier, happier plane of life.

In this 'dog's life' tremendous things are happening for the better.