For the first month Charlie was in our neighborhood he literally slept in the middle of the road. He would not allow anyone to get within 10 feet. My neighbor's daughter has made a lot of progress with him in the last couple of weeks. As a result he will now let her pet him. She has been feeding him and I have even seen his tail wagging a time or two.My K is two things if she is anything: 1- up for a challenge and 2- an animal lover. Tonight she set out to earn the right to pet Charlie Brown.
This was the scene for half an hour. K patiently squatted, spoke softly to him and tempted him with little bits of food. She definitely made progress, but Charlie is not easy to win over. The best she could do was get him within 5 feet of her hands.
We don't know his story for certain, but it seems pretty clear he has suffered abuse at the hands of someone. His fearfulness is heartbreaking. My kids want to pet him and play with him. They have love to give--but he has been hurt. He doesn't know who to trust.At one point K even attempted to prove her trustworthiness to the beagle by loving on our lab.
"See? I love dogs."
As I watched K interact with Charlie, I was struck by the picture of hurt, outreach, fear and trust her attempts to befriend the beagle painted. How I can identify! I have been the beagle and definitely know what it feels like to be K.When I finally called K in for bed, she had to be heavily persuaded. She wanted to get close to the beagle tonight. Charlie wasn't buying it.
Yet, for all of his hesitancy, when K walked away she was delighted to see that Charlie was following her. K turned back to acknowledge him and he backed away again.
There are people in my life a lot like this beagle. They have been hurt. They are timid and afraid of being abused again. It is very hard for them to trust. I have tried to hold out words of life and friendship and found it greeted with skepticism.Trust is far easier to destroy than it is to build.
I assured K that we could try again tomorrow. Some relationships take much more patience and consistency than others.
5 comments:
I have never commented here but have been reading for a while. I love your posts where you find God in the everyday things. It's been a great reminder and inspiration for me to do the same!
I appreciate your story but be SUPER careful he doesn't snap. We have a dog (and have had her since she was 6 weeks) who is a fear biter. She wasn't abused, it was, unfortunately, bred into her and we didn't know it until we already had her. She snaps at children. It's not a fun lesson to learn!
I love the compassion she has shown! What a sweetie.
But, like the earlier commenter, dogs bite from fear faster than aggression.
I would hate to have her compassion rewarded with a dog bite!
Thanks for the heads up. You are right! A painful bite in return for compassion is not a lesson we want to learn at 6!
Oh,this story touches me so. Probably because we have a new puppy at our house, and I can't imagine anyone abusing them. What a great life lesson for K. She is precious, and I have no doubt will win Charlie Brown over!
Post a Comment