The Initial Disappointment

It was the perfect arrangement.  Kate had driven the 20 hours to meet Immy. She extended her stay in a small rustic cabin at Ma's Loma Cafe in Loma Montana. Brian Wood, Immy's owner, was willing to allow her to take Immy on a trial for the rest of the week. At the end of the week, Kate could decide whether or not she wanted to take Immy home.

Immy is lovely and sweet, but very timid. There was an episode on their first walk together.  Kate still has a scar on her hand from when they were walking along the river under the underpass. It seems a car drove by overhead and at that same moment Kate's foot struck a rough spot on the path and it all startled Immy so much that Immy bolted and pulled Kate down onto the gravel path. Kate got on her knees in front of Immy to talk with her; reassure her. She reached out to pet Immy and Immy bolted again. She caught Kate totally off guard and ended up dragging Kate several feet through the gravel.

"Wow," Kate exclaimed, startled and in pain. "I'm not sure this is going to work out." I was surprised that Kate seemed to feel so defeated after this incident. It was just one incident of a dog bringing it's old fear into the new situation. I understood Immy because Kate was strange to her and she had not had a chance to build up a level of trust. On the other hand Immy was strange to Kate as well, and she had not had a chance to build up a level of trust either.

Give it time Kate. Give it time.

THE NEXT CHAPTER: LIFE WITH IMMY BEGINS

We got off track with our story with the publication of my book "Jack McAfghan: Reflections on Life with my Master". The book now kind of has a life of its own. The orders are coming in and we can get back to telling our story.

Backtracking: I was assigned to be Immy's Guardian Angel and I was able to get Kate to drive to Montana to meet her. It was love at first sight. The first time she ushered Immy into the back of the car she said "C'mon Im!" like she had said it every day of her life.

That's how you know the dog is right for you. It has a strangely familiar feel. You don't always understand each other but it doesn't take as much work as it does with the others.  It's kind of like people. You just know when it feels right. The old comfortable shoe. The collar that feels better on than off.

She Made Everything Fun, Even the Stuff That was Scary

There was the time when we short sold our house and had to find a place to live. We found a nice place, but every time you move you have to adapt and sometimes you have to learn new things. She was a great teacher because even if I got nervous or scared, which wasn't very often, she was always very reassuring and she actually made the scary things seem fun. After awhile I found everything fun!

Getting used to our new place, I never saw these things before!

Posted by Jack McAfghan on Sunday, September 15, 2013