Listen Up

Hello, Dear Friends,

Chase, here with my Thursday Doggie Diary.

When Belinda’s Friend, Susan, visited two days ago, she admired my cuteness and asked Belinda, “So is Chase your favourite so far?” Belinda smiled and said, “No, I can’t have a favourite--they are all such unique personalities, and I love them all.”

She was thinking about Oscar, the little white dog who had some health needs and was quite an old “little boy.” He had dental and breath issues and bad kidneys, but he still had lots of love to give. Then there was the famous FIFA, an extraordinary dog, who stole Belinda’s heart and even Paul’s, plus was admired by several neighbours. And of course, Magic and Spero, the dynamic pair of handsome family dogs, an Aussie and a Golden Retriever.

But deep down, I could tell that there was a favourite, a dog who went on many Belinda walks because he used to live in the downstairs apartment. He was Molson the Golden Retriever. I’ve seen his photo on her bookshelf, and I can tell Molson was a true hero of the heart, the gentlest doggie soul ever. The legend is that he truly lived his purpose, loving not just his pack, but people in a nursing home, and people with disabilities who thought they were scared of dogs but weren’t scared of him. He’s the right choice for favourite.

Tori is working hard at Dog Tales, an animal sanctuary. Some dogs arrived last week from Israel on a plane, and they also have some Russian dogs. These dogs only understand Hebrew or Russian when they come, but soon they’ll learn some English because we dogs are smart!

Of course, we don’t even need words. Our Creator gave us the gift of body language. It takes people a little while to understand because they mostly only use words and don’t realize how much we try to tell them. And then they also need to listen to what we say— Belinda thought that she had solved my issue with the halter...Today after breakfast, she put on her rain jacket and picked up an umbrella, and said that we were about to go on a lovely walk. But Belinda hadn’t been listening to my body communication. She put on my halter, and my ears and tail went down, then she attached the leash, and I lay down. 

Finally, Belinda got it, and this time listened with her eyes. She unclipped everything and slid the halter over my head. Freedom! I felt so relieved.  My ears and tail perked up right away. She would have loved to go for a walk around the village, but instead, we ran around the acre of their yard four times. My little legs pounded over the grass like a lamb on steroids, my ears flapped in the wind. I played my favourite game where I stick so close to her heel, that I’m invisible, while she looks which way I’ve gone! I do that a lot. I loved running and being free—and being understood at last.

Belinda was getting ready for people coming for dinner and book study again tonight. This is me, doing my best to help with the dishwasher before everyone arrived. Belinda hoped that this week I would feel more relaxed when the guests came because of last week when I showed that I was stressed by panting and pacing a lot. I felt a lot calmer this week because I'd seen the three people who came before. I even gave them a Chase welcome. I must say that when they started reading out loud, though, I didn't like it very much, and found it hard to settle. When it was over, it was a relief. I was much more relaxed when at last the house went back to quiet! People exhaust me, even nice friendly ones. I'm really a sensitive little doggie, who likes peace and quiet. FaceBook is a perfect way for me to connect because it's not so stressful as in person.

What can I say--it's how the Creator made me!

Well, me and Belinda, we're hitting the hay. Paul went up already and is in dreamland. He doesn't want furry PJs like mine because he said they'd be too hot and he likes it cold. I'm hopping into mine though. Goodnight my dear friends,
Chase (sending lots of kisses)