My dog story is about my black lab, Sydney. We got her from a non-kill shelter in Rancho Sante Fe, CA. She had been there for over eight months because she wouldn't allow anyone but a few shelter workers near her. When we told them we wanted to adopt her, they put us in a room with a sofa and carpet and brought her in to see us. As soon as she saw us she started backing away until her butt hit the sofa. Then she climbed backwards until her rear was on the sofa seat and her front paws on the carpet. Then she got her front end onto the seat, then her back end onto the top of the sofa back, then her front end. So she sat balanced on the back of the sofa. We decided to come back another time.
On our next visit, we tried coaxing her with food, no dice. When the workers realized we were serious about her, they decided to try to trick her. She loved to walk, so one of the workers got a leash and started her on a walk with us trailing several yards behind. After a short period, the worker waved us to catch up and quietly handed us the leash. After a little bit, Sydney turned around and saw us on the end of the leash. It was as if she said, "Oh well" and just kept walking. She was our dog from then.
But my story is of our walks with Sydney around our neighborhood. On one walk, she startled a cat that was resting in the shade under a car. From that point on, whenever she passed a car parked on the side of a street, she always bent down to check out whether there was a cat under the car. We had to wait while she made sure there were no felines hiding there.
We had to get a harness to walk Sydney because we did not like the pull on her neck when she saw something to chase. We were at the Grand Canyon when something startled her and she took off running toward a low wall at the edge of the canyon. Fortunately, she had her harness on and we had a strong leash, because she leaped to go over the wall. I held the leash tight so she didn't even get close to going over, but it scared the heck out of all three of us.
Sydney broke her leg several months after we got to TV. I am still a little haunted by carrying her into the vet, and coming home with just a leash and collar. We still miss her.
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