Short Stories

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Ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the air and they will tell you. –Job 12:7.

When Karen met Bear three years ago, it was love at first sight. One look into those brown eyes told her that she had a friend. Her drab, boring life became fun. She’d practically leap out of bed in the morning to take Bear to the park. At work, she’d daydream about him day, and at the end of the day she’d rush home to be greeted by Bear and his happy, wagging tail and goofy grin. “Squirrels, squirrels?!” she’d squeal. “Wanna chase squirrels?” He’d reply with a howl and a doggy dance, and they’d be off. Karen loved the long walks and developed a curious passion for chasing squirrels. The best part was the dog run, where Bear would romp with his friends and impress everyone with his superior speed and agility.

But Bear wasn’t perfect. He loved to play with the neighborhood dogs, but would often get in fights. The outing would be ruined as Karen apologized for her dog’s behavior and left the park. Karen wasn’t the only person who loved Bear, and friends would assure her that he wasn’t a dangerous dog, and every trainer she’d spoken to said that once a dog got into the habit of fighting, there was no changing it. So they continued their trips to the park. The fighting troubled Karen, but no one was ever hurt, and she’d just calmly break them up and enjoy Bear for who he was.

After about two years, the problem got worse, and Bear attacked a smaller dog. Thank God, no one was hurt! When she asked the furious owner if his dog was ok, he replied “Oh, Max is fine, but I want you to know that if I’d had a knife with me I would have stabbed your dog!” Karen was now terrified to go to the park.

A concerned friend said to her “You’ve got to do something about Bear’s aggression. He’s a good dog. There must be a trainer you could work with.”

Remembering what other trainers had told her, she felt it was now hopeless. It broke her heart, but she was thinking that maybe she’d have to give Bear up. But to give up on Bear was unthinkable. About a week later, she made an appointment with a behaviorist at the local humane society.

The behaviorist showed her three simple exercises to do with a clicker and some treats. Whenever they were walking together, and another dog approached she was to say his name and click the clicker the instant Bear looked at her. After about a week of doing this, Bear would automatically look at her when he saw another dog. In fact, he started heeling all the time. In the dog run, she was to yell “Bear, come!” and run away, getting Bear to follow her. He thought this was a game and had a recall that was the envy of the other dog owners in the neighborhood. Before going into the dog run, she’d get another dog to come to the fence and give it a treat if the owner said it was ok to. A treat for the other dog meant one for him, too.

These changes were so exciting to Karen that she read everything she could about clicker training, dog behavior, and dog body language. They joined a canine agility class, took long hikes together (she finally felt like she could trust him to hike off his leash.), and taught him every cute trick she could. When buying meat at the grocery store, she’d carefully consider what his favorites were and what foods he hadn’t had recently before heading to the checkout. She liked to joke that Bear had first taken over her life, and now he had taken over her brain.

Although they spent more time in solitude together, they were not alone. God was with them, and there were so many moments when she wanted to shout out “That’s what you’re like!” Although Karen never did take on canine flesh and die for her friend, she understood what it was to make a sacrifice so someone else could live. On her walks she couldn’t help but think of God’s ultimate sacrifice.

On one hiking trip, as they took a break, Karen once again looked into those soft brown eyes, and her own eyes began to tear up. She bowed her head and whispered, “Thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice. Thank you for not giving up on me and working with me even when I’m at my worst.”

People would often tell Karen what a well behaved dog Bear was, and she’d reply “If only you knew!”

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