Getting to know you…
When creating a relationship with a fictional dog, like Bernard, it takes time to develop their character and work out what might make them tick? Obviously, taking on a rescue dog is not a slow ‘getting to know you’ process; it is pretty much full on, 24/7 from day 1! I remember Milo’s first meal in our house. He was watching my every move as I filled his new bowl and refreshed his water. He looked a bit like our old dog, Jack, but his ears were bigger and his legs were longer, he was familiar, yet a stranger at the same time. I wondered what he really liked to eat? I had various options lined up, I plumped for sardines and some dry mix, he woofed it down…
He had been panting almost constantly since he arrived, but the meal seemed to calm him. I tried to see things from his point of view, he didn’t know how we were going to treat him, but giving him a decent meal could be seen as a good start from his point of view. I felt my shoulders start to drop a little. I sat with him and stroked his head noticing again that part of his ear was missing and I had no idea why? It made me emotional to think that he was so willing to trust us and was delighted to already accept the little bit of love we had shown him…