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Lucky’s Life Lessons on Patience and Acceptance

lucky-on-bed-585Last year was a busy one. I bought my first ever brand new car, got married on the sly and rescued Lucky, a 4-year-old Border CollieSchipperke mix. Trained, housebroken, walks well on a leash and … petrified of everyone.

She was quite the departure from my last super-social fur baby, but I was confident she could be trained to be a well-rounded pooch. Little did I know, it was I who would learn the bigger lesson.

In Lucky’s own words, here is the rest of the story.

The powers that be found me a new home. As far as owners go these two are the bee’s knees. We walk all the time, she bakes me homemade treats, and in this house I am truly treated as one of the pack. It’s awesome.

As you’ve probably already heard, I’ve got a bit of a problem. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got manners and all, but when it comes to humans I find them a bit scary. You would too if you’ve seen what I’ve seen.

Anyway, everything was going great until the female owner set about training me in what she called the social graces. Since I’d seen the woman leave with her gym bag and yoga mat, I figured she knew what it was like to struggle with the ups and downs of training. Some days ya make big strides, other days ya feel like you’re backsliding and that’s okay; I’m only human — well I’m not, but you get it, right?

So when one of my training sessions would end up less than stellar and I could feel her getting all edgy and frustrated, I’d simply send her love in the way of big wet doggie kisses, making sure she didn’t give up on me. I’ve found that a little love goes a long way to ward off frustration and defeatism.

I sincerely hope she isn’t so tough on herself. Life’s just too short, especially when years are calculated at a 1-to-7 ratio. She really needs to remember that adage, “It’s the journey, not the destination.”

It’s been six months, and although I’ve made a ton of progress, I think we’ve both realized that I may never be the social butterfly that their old dog was and, ya know what? That’s okay, too.

 I’ve promised to never quit trying and that is the best that anyone can do. At the end of the day we all just want to be accepted for who we are. Just love me and I’ll love you, flaws and all.

Paws and Kisses,

Lucky

If you are considering bringing a pet into your life, please consider adoption. And share your favorite pet stories below for Fit Bottomed Pets Week!Karen

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Comments

2 Comments
  1. frie says:

    Hi Karen,

    I love that post and Lucky! Such a beautiful dog!

    I can totally relate to your experiences. We adopted a Spanish street dog in 2006 when she (Flossy) was 2 or 3 years old. She was soo anxious of everything. The first day she didn’t eat, she didn’t let us pet her (she would never bite, she just goes back) and she spent the day/night behind the couch hiding…
    It took us about a year or so until we saw her wag her tail for the first time. Nowadays, she’s still shy and definitely not much of a cuddler although she sometimes kind of demands attention and will not be quiet until she gets her share of petting 😀 :).

    So, keep working, it just takes a lot of time. But I agree, they don’t become a totally “normal” dog again. But that’s what’s so fascinating and unique about those dogs.. 🙂

    All the best from Germany!

  2. So sweet!! Dogs certainly know best, don’t they?!

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