Lessons From My Dogs: Change  

            Life can change in an instant. The ordinary instant, as Joan Didion said. In the last issue of LaJoie, I wrote about Stash’s sudden injury with a brief mention of Paisley. Paisely, six or seven years and weighing in at fourteen pounds, is a tiny red and black beagle, and it was precisely her small size that had her headed for the dump heap. Too small to hunt, or perhaps too often stuck down a hole, Paisley was kicked off the pack and came to live with Sparkle and me, where she now hunts to her heart’s content out in the front fields, staying out longer than Sparkle, longer even than Stash did. When she returns to the warmth of the interior house, she crashes, so obviously ecstatic in her newfound comfort.

Paisley joins our household.

            Paisley learned the doggie door instantly. She comes running in from hunting when I call her name. She also comes when I call Sparkle’s name but we’re learning! She’s adorable and sweet and most important, she seems to love her new life. Sparkle didn’t lick her at first perhaps because she didn’t know her, or perhaps because Paisley smelled. She licks her more and more now, and when the two lie together, my heart swells.

Paisley and Sparkle getting used to one another.

Sparkle tends to Paisley like she did with Stash.

Losing Stash and then introducing Paisley was enough of a change, but then on December 8th, Mae came to live with us as a foster. Mae lived with her mother and grandmother in an abusive situation. She was hit, kicked, and barely fed. Her ears froze partially off so that now she has little tulip ears.

The three dogs were rescued by Sandra, and from that point on, Mae lived a fairly feral and unsocialized life with Sandra and many other rescue dogs. But when Sandra became ill, she realized she had to move and found homes for all of the dogs except Mae. Mae’s mother had died in July and she was grieving her absence. When Sandra put her house on the market, it sold in one day. The natural order of things was rapidly changing, and both Sandra and Mae needed to find new homes as soon as possible. Within the span of a short time, Mae had lost her mother, all her canine companions, her home and fenced-in yard, and had moved into a motel with Sandra. She didn’t know she was about to lose her beloved person, too. Living peacefully with other dogs was the only life Mae had ever known. The photo I received of her revealed a worried and confused dog. And when I heard her story, my heart began speaking.

I must travel in January, and I still work. I was not looking for a third dog, but then I thought to myself if I became infirmed and couldn’t keep my dogs, would I not want someone kind to offer help and to know my dog was loved? And isn’t this what we do, especially around the holidays, we reach out to others, canine, feline, equine, ovine, etc. others included? I often try to change the world (reduce suffering, raise awareness about animal testing, factory farming, general abuse) on the national or international level, but I realize most valid change happens on the local level. And here, looking me in the face, was something I could do to help not only Sandra, Mae’s human, but of course sweet Mae herself.

Confused and sweet, Mae stayed with us and regained her confidence through love.

            And so in the spirit of Christmas and all things beautiful and good, we welcome Mae into our home and show her as much love as we possibly can. Happy holidays to all and peace to all beings.

 

Postscript: Mae found the perfect home with other dogs and a huge fenced-in back yard and a wonderful human. Sometimes there are happy endings for all if we just believe they are possible.