My daughter, sister and I headed off to our local animal shelter, Saving Grace. We went into a room with lots of kennels full of loud excited dogs all trying to get our attention. All but one. One little dog was sitting quietly just watching us. I visited with all the dogs but kept going back to the quiet one named Koda.
Before we left the room I had fallen in love and decided to take Koda home with me. The woman at the shelter showed me her history and warned me that she had been in 4 different homes in her year of life and she might have some training issues.
She definately had some training issues. Mostly she had bonding issues from having so many different owners, no doubt. She kept trying to get away from us. If the door was opened a crack, she wiggled out and was off running down the street like a shot. She would tolerate sitting in my lap if I put her there but never climbed up on her own and certainly never snuggled in. She had a "I'm tough, I don't need you" attitude.
But that was 5 months ago. She now understands that she is an important, adored part of our family and jumps eagerly into any available lap. And now you couldn't pry her away from our family with a crow bar.
As I write this I realize that I wanted a dog to comfort me during my illness and found a dog also needing to be comforted. A perfect connection. Thank You God. :)
Meet Koda, my special friend.
