We never dreamed that this would be possible. After weeks and weeks of frustration, tears, and disappointment, the little Jack Russell terrier we took in several months back is finally starting to respond to us and coming to us when we call his name.
My husband and I have a pet therapy business. We are licensed pet therapists and our mission in life is to help bring pets out of their shell (or handle difficult problems), one dog (or cat) at a time. We also adopt pets nobody else wants, so, as you can imagine, our house is pretty full of animals and birds. And it is pretty noisy, too.
We have cats. Dogs. Birds. Snakes. Lizards. Rabbits. Gerbils. Hamsters. Guinea pigs. Frogs. We have it all! We even have a baby owlet that we are taking care of. Yet right now, as of late, our attention has been focused primarily on Jumper. Jumper came to us, malnourished, neglected, and badly in need of help. He was so skittiish if one of us moved our hands to flick some hair off our face or to open a door, Jumper would skitter away, yelping as if he had been zapped in the rear with some prod. He would hide if people entered the room.
We found Jumper living in his own excrement in an abandoned house. Apparently his owners decided they didn't want him anymore, so when they moved, they left him behind to fend for himself. It was heartbreaking.
We knew we had a lot of work ahead of us to try to reach this dog somehow, to remind him that there were people who truly cared for his welfare, so we took it upon ourselves to get him the medical attention and the care he desperately needed. Yet we were willing to help, so we took Jumper in as our own.
While it hasn't been easy a lot of the time, our efforts are finally starting to pay off. Jumper comes running up to us, barking joyously when one of us enters a room, and he's turned into a fun, lively little critter with a heart full of love. Even with everything he has endured before we stepped into his life, the dog has taught us one thing: he hasn't forgotten how to love.
To be continued.
