MAY 19th Snarling Dogs & Powerful Lessons

Hi Journal & Friends,

Yesterday something happened with Joey that shocked me... scared me... warmed my heart.... and taught me something. So, here is comes...

LESSONS FROM A PUPPY #6

Believe in yourself. 

Really. 

Then ACT on it!

Joey loves to hang out on the front screened-in porch, especially when there are sunbeams on these chilly days.

Vevie joined Joey on the porch, to catch some rays.

Since Vevie left, Joey ran into the house and brought out her Duck for company.

Bored with Ducky, she found her Bear and promptly dragged it out, too.

Ahhh... asleep in the sunbeam.

But yesterday I got a big scare when suddenly, from next door charged our neighbors 70 pound dog, barking and snarling like he was going to eat Joey alive! It all happened so fast, that I was stunned. 

Joey, inside the screened porch, jumped up and faced her attacker, braced her feet apart, head down, and BARKED WITH HUGE MENACE RIGHT BACK AT THIS ATTACKER!! She didn't back up ONE INCH!. 

Joey is only about 5 pounds, and not quite 5 months old. I guess she is too young to know she would have been "lunch" for this attacking dog. But she stood her ground, fearlessly protecting her territory, her home. And me, I suppose, since I was right there inside the door and afterward, she ran up to me to "tell" me all about it. 

I was so thankful Joey had been inside the screened porch, though if the neighbor hadn't ran over and dragged his hunk of a dog away, I wasn't too sure that it might have come right through the screen! (Jim recently bought a new little harness for Joey, which doesn't press against her throat when pulled. If needed for safety, you can actually lift her right up by it, and not choke her. Now I'm thankful he insisted... and will tell him he was right.)

Later, after my blood pressure came back down from outer space...I thought of several things.

• Mark Twain said "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."  Now I've seen this first hand! Joey believed in herself, and she was prepared to act on it. Yes, she might be too little to know any better yet. But the point is, she was taking a stand, and that was that.

• I remembered the little note I had taped to the edge of my computer. It says: "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" Five pound Joey was nose to nose with a 70 pound attacking dog, yet she didn't budge. She "believed" she would not fail. I'm not too sure at her age if she calculated that "Oh, I'm safe because there is this flimsy screening between me and that snarling monster".  Was she foolishly naive?? Of course. But I was awed by her courage.

• I also I realized that if need be, I was prepared to take on that Snarling Monster with my bare hands, if it meant protecting Joey. See... Joey is Jim's dog. I'm the "baby sitter". She ADORES Jim, and actually sits by the front door starting around 30 minutes before he is due home from work... she longingly looks down the street if she is on the porch, as though she knows it's almost time for her Daddy to come home. When he finally does get here, she goes nuts with enthusiasm, wagging her whole body!                         .....But Joey and I have a different relationship. I like her... she likes me. We are okay. When Jim is home, she NEVER poops in the wrong place now. Her whole world consists of pleasing Jim. For me... not so much. I still have to watch her like a hawk. We have a more complicated relationship. So... when I had the scare from the neighbor dog, I realized that regardless of my resistance, I have fallen in love with Joey, and would do anything to protect her. Anything. She is my girl, too.

• And lastly, I want to believe in myself, the way Joey believed in herself yesterday. No doubts. No hesitation. No excuses. No fears. When we truly believe, we act. Amazing the things a scruffy little pup can teach you!

From Dr Phil's book: "What is true about you in your mind, you will live."

My verse for today: "My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."

My quote for today: "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear." --Mark Twain

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta

=^..^=

DAY 643