A New Life

Boy or girl ? Black or white or tan or mixed ? Short, tall, or in between ? It was like being in a doggy supermarket.  She was sure there would be a buy one get one free sign popping up somewhere in the Shelter.  She thought of the dog she had lost and tears welled up.  He had been tall, black and regal with a just a touch of scraggly.  He had been comforting and annoying and lovable.  How she missed him.  As she watched her kids run around looking for a new furry friend, she wondered how could she ever replaced him ?  He had been a member of the family.  Then she saw her – small, white, fluffy and so eager to play.  Every hair on her little body was just screaming for attention.  The women’s heart was lost.

The dog’s eye followed all the people.  She watched them walk over, bend down and stare at her.  She didn’t know what to think.  She’d had people once.  A family she had thought.  She had waited for walks with her family.  She had waited to play ball.  She had waited for a pet on the head.  When she got tired of waiting, she barked.  When that didn’t work, she barked more.  When that didn’t work she chewed on whatever was close by and smelled of her family.  She didn’t get the walks, or to play ball or pets on the head.  She didn’t get what she expected at all.  She got given away.  Her family was gone.

As the woman bent down to take a closer look at this little white dog, she could see her going for walks, throwing a ball and cuddling her new friend.  She asked the Shelter staff if she could see this dog and instantly knew that this dog needed to come home.  She saw this dog becoming a member of the family.  Not to replace the dog she had lost but to help fill the emptiness since she lost him.  For the first time in a long time, she could smile when she thought of her other dog.  She called her children over to meet the little white dog.

The little white dog sniffed this new person and decided she was the one.  When she met the children, she knew she was part of a family.  It was good to be going home again.