1,000 Smiles | Dogs | Day 42 | Deborah Peters

Jul 18, 2012 by Deborah

Dogs.

Specifically, a dogs trust.

Today is a sick day home with Hercules. He see’s the vet in 80 minutes and the last thing I wish to do is a blog post….but there were a few remarkable smiles this morning so this had to be done.

Hercules is the best dog among dogs – truly. He came from AZ St. Bernard Rescue and he was different from day 1. I’ll never forget our introduction; he was right at home within 5 minutes, chillin’ on their couch. We visited for about an hour and as we parted I’ll never forget those big brown eyes locked with mine, following us out the door. I had never had that with dogs before. His face said: “You’re going to remember me, right? We had a great connection. Why are you leaving?”

It wasn’t long before we were back! Just had to wait for some minor details in papers to adopt. Excited, entering the rescue again, I wondered if Hercules would remember us. I shouldn’t have been surprised but I was. Of course anytime there’s a visitor this rescue house of at least 15 beautiful St. Bernards, there is commotion! I looked over at Hercules’ room…and met his stare. Those big brown eyes had happiness and anxiety in them as if to say: “I remember you! You remember me, right? You’re here for me out of all these dogs, right?”

Yes of course we were. Fast forward 3 1/2 years and he is a major part of the family. So, nothing breaks my heart more than to see him upset or in pain – especially when I don’t know how to fix it. It started last night, usually there is “quality tv time” and one of us lays down on the floor with him. He was favoring one side…and practically cried when the other side moved at all. Looking at him, couldn’t see anything…so this morning, woke up and Hercules was not at the bedside up for his walk, definitely not right. He tried to get up a few times, could not without wincing. When he did finally get up, I noticed one side was swollen? A sprain? He loves to run & jump outside but this would be a first….

So, all morning those big brown eyes have followed us about the house…making sure we’re not leaving…so we’re close in the room with him. Isn’t that something?

Dogs are so full of love, the only thing they really want is to love and be loved. That’s it.

I can see he wants things back to normal even though he’s in pain. But for the moment, he’ll take us nearby, with or without it.

PS: Back from Vet…he has some neck strain affecting mobility on the right side…but we have medicine for him and I’m taking him to my dear friend and chiropractor tomorrow! She can fix me, she can fix him.

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