A breakthrough

Sandy and I have been together for three and a half years.

If you follow her blog, you understand that she is a rescue who doesn't know she was a rescue.

Her human was dying and one of the kindest things he did for her was to re-home her before he got too sick to care for her. He kept her from being sent to a shelter.

But from Sandy's point of view, the situation looks different. She got a new_family.html but she didn't know why.

We struggled to connect. We tried to learn about each other and how to work together.

The pandemic changed our daily schedule. We adjusted.

Family members and their dogs moved in with us. We adjusted.

The re-opening changed our daily schedule again. We adjusted.

but in all of our adjusting, bonding never really seemed to happen.

more changes

It wasn't me. I've bonded with my former dogs.

It was us. We never really bonded. We both tried, but our tenuous connections were constantly being pulled apart by circumstances.

I kept trying.

I hoped Sandy was trying.

And then it happened:

Eventually I felt it was time to move on.

"Sandy," I said, like I always do before I wiggle the leash to get her attention.

If it's a good smell, she will ignore both my voice and the leash wiggle. I have to escalate in volume, in leash wiggle, and finally I physically touch her and turn her in the direction I want to go.

But not this time!

This time, she stopped sniffing and made quick eye contact with me. "I hear you human, but this is a really good smell."

She went back to sniffing. I let her sniff. I was thrilled that my beagle mix took a moment from a good smell to acknowledge my existence.

A small thing for most dog owners. HUGE for us. We may actually be bonding.

May you bond with all your furry friends,