For the first few days, she was like a fox. She hid in her crate and wouldn't look at us. Ears back. I felt a strange and heavy guilt, knowing she was traumatised from the long journey in a van. Our 5 month old gangly pup, Sita. She smelled like a dog. What was I expecting?
The dog rescue charity urges the adopters to be patient. Of course we had to be patient. It was like nursing a new born. I suddenly felt like a Mother-of-3, pacing the kitchen at odd hours, in a dressing gown, preoccupied with the next puppy-pad.
Sita's little Bambi legs quivered when she crept out to her dog bowl.
Tess wondered if she didn't understand English and only spoke Romanian.
She will know kindness, said my mum. Kindly. It sounds like a title of a poem.
Slowly the kindness brought Sita out of herself. It took a few days before I saw that first wag of the tail. And then, doggy joy. Sniffing around. Cavorting around the garden like a lamb. She looked at me like I was her everything.
We have taught her to 'sit' for dog treats. Primary 1 in dog school. I have to order her a non- slip harness and we have to wait another week before venturing out on her first walk. There's a long way to go, but she will know kindness.
Here's a link to an 18 second CLIP of puppy does happy. You know you want to.
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