I was on a cruise ship and one day at lunch time an old lady came and sat next to me. She was a widow in her 80s, from South Africa and she was travelling alone. She was dripping in tasteless gold jewellery! this was an extremely wealthy lady. I made polite conversation over lunch but never thought we would have anything in common. She had acres of land, a large house and quite a few staff. The conversation was polite but a little dull until I mentioned that I had just trained as a dog trainer and behaviourist. Her eyes lit up, we actually made eye contact and she smiled. She began to tell me all about her 3 little dogs that she rescued from hunger and abuse to come and live with her on the farm in Pretoria. I shared the story of how we rescued Buddy from Battersea dogs home, and before either of us knew it we were having a friendly, animated and interesting conversation.This got me thinking. Could this happen to any two people from anywhere in the world? Just finding something in common, that special intimate bond we share with our dogs can be recognized by another person anywhere. A personal experience we could share with anyone in any country, of any religion or background. Just think if the World's politicians could do that!
An interesting observation. I've just read back through your previous posts now that I'm the proud owner of Archie. I was sorry to hear about Lola, such a sad story. Before we got Archie we approached our local Dogs Trust centre, but after weighing up the options we thought that a pedigree puppy was the right choice for us this time. The story about Lola made me think of Jack who was a dog we saw at the Dogs Trust who had been waiting a long time for a home. He just lay on his blanket and was so depressed. Then back in July this post http://dogstrustblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/remember-jack-how-could-you-forget.html appeared on the Dogs Trust blog. It looks like Jack has now got the home he deserves.
ReplyDeleteSkippy and I have done many therapy visits to old and young. Dogs are definitely a universal language. I/We have talked dog talk with troubled teenage girls, kids in rehab from serious accidents, elderly in day care, etc. Our first visit was with an elderly women who hadn't smiled or had any communication in months. She smiled all day after patting Skippy and holding my hand. I'm a not a good communicator without my dog. With Skippy around, everyone speaks the same language.
ReplyDeleteSkippy is a pedigree pup. He was the right dog for us. He's a fantastic dog and so is every other dog!
It's so true. Something in common almost always breaks down barriers. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how that works, we meet the most interesting people when we are out and about with our dog. It really does help to break down the barriers.:)
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