Milestones and Miracles

When you are involved with dogs, you know that the smallest things can be the greatest miracles. Yesterday I was lucky enough to experience two more wondrous miracles at the Haven. I had the crew out for one of our twice daily walks in the big field. It was gorgeous! The breeze was just brisk enough to keep the mosquitoes from landing, the sun was warm on my shoulders, and the intense verdant green of the scenery around me was breathtaking. I was soaking it all in, bottling it in my memory for the time when the darkness is more common than the light, both in the landscape and in my heart. The dogs were zig-zagging back and forth across the field in their usual happy-go-lucky way and I was laughing at Mimi and Twiggy's faux duel-to-the-death chase across the field, when I spied a tiny white speck coming through the arbor gate from the yard into the field. I held my breath for a moment, because I couldn't believe it...Baci was venturing out to join us! For the past two years, Baci hasn't joined us on our walkies - I think primarily because he got bowled over once by one of the larger dogs. But there he was, bravely and steadily making his way out to me at the other end of the field. When he got about twenty feet from me, I called to him, and he broke into a bouncy little trot to get to me faster. I scooped him up and kissed his dear little cheek, telling him how brave he was. Baci is one of those dogs that actually smile like people - his lips turn up at the corners when he's happy - and he was smiling to beat the band. To some people, this might not be a big deal - to me, this was a huge gift.
The second miracle came from my other tiny heart boy, Teddy. As you may recall from my other posts, Teddy is a former puppy-mill dog who, until March of this year, spent his entire nine years of life in a cage, walking on wire mesh. Therefore, Teddy didn't experience some of the same things that the rest of us would consider normal experiences for a puppy. He learned about many of these things from his foster mom, Chris - like cuddling, belly rubs, sleeping in a bed, kisses on a cheek, and the warmth of a human lap. A couple of weeks ago, he started doing puppy zoomies in the house before bed. Now, mind you, our house isn't large, so there wasn't much room, but he seemed to enjoy himself nonetheless. Yesterday, he discovered one more benefit to living free - running for joy. On the same walk that Baci came out to join, Teddy started running in circles in the big field...he used every inch of that two acres in ever-widening circles. At first, it was like his little body had no idea how to coordinate everything with that much ground to cover. His legs went in all different directions and he looked a little silly, but with a wide, wide grin on his tiny face (like Baci, he smiles like a human). After a few laps, everything sort of clicked into place and he ran like the wind, ears back, tail out, and front and back legs working together in perfect harmony. My eyes teared up when I realized what I had just witnessed...a dog finally experiencing the ultimate freedom.
Yes, Virginia, miracles do still exist, and they happen every day if we look for them.