Dogs~Man's Best Friend

This post has been a long time coming...

We are a canine loving family. I had a Shih-Tzu named Buddy for 15 years. He was the sweetest dog ever and it was the hardest thing I EVER had to do putting him down. It was like losing a family member. I grieved over the loss for almost a year. Everyone kept telling me to get another dog right away.  I felt as if I would be replacing him by doing so, so I kept saying no. Buddy was a comforting presence to the kids. They never really played with him though since he was older.

Almost a year to the date, we decided it was time to love another dog.  Stewart is a Shih-Tzu as well, but looks completely different than Buddy! I knew that Anna Grace and Luke would love him and play with him, but I worried about Emily. She has always been a little afraid of dogs that jump on her and I knew that a puppy would be very active(unlike Buddy). She was not interested in him at all for the first 6 months. As he calmed down and outgrew some of his puppy behavior, I noticed her following HIM around and her watching what HE did. We had some bad weather one day and Emily and Stewart were in my bedroom. Stewart had gotten under the bed and Emily was sitting right beside him looking very intently at his eyes and saying something I could not understand to him. I left the room and came back in just as a firetruck went by with the sirens on. Emily(who has supersonic hearing) went and got into a corner in the bedroom near the bed between the wall and dresser and said to herself, "It's Ok". She sat for a long time and then emerged, went into the kitchen to get a snack, and brought it back to her corner. She had NEVER put herself in that spot before.

I few weeks later, I could not find Emily. I was slightly terrified as she is UNDERNEATH me at all times. After calling her name for several minutes, I finally found her in my closet with Stewart. Stewart likes to sleep in our closet when we are gone during the day. It is his comfort spot. Emily had obviously been watching him and knew that if he felt safe in there, she would too. She began going in there often, usually taking her iPod touch or iPad with her. It is her "safe place" now!

Emily has severe anxiety and separation has always been an issue for her, The fact that she can go into a room by herself without me being close or within earshot is HUGE! I know that assistance dogs are trained to pick up on cues from Special Needs Kids. The fact that Emily picked up cues from Stewart reminds me of what her Neurophychologist said about her brain. She has a prehistoric brain that relies on her surroundings and watching others to process data and learn about the world around her.

MUST LOVE DOGS...