Recently I was in a grocery store and I witnessed something heartbreaking. Two young teenagers were looking and jeering at a young kid with his mother. The young boy was exuberant, smiling, full of life….and obviously had down syndrome. Standing in line behind these two teenagers waiting to check out, another person who was physically handicapped walked in and sure enough, the jeering started. Needless to say I wanted to jerk a knot in these two young girls heads, and teach them a lesson in compassion. How many times have we seen someone made fun of due to a disability they were either born with, or due to life handing someone a raw deal. It is truly a disgusting part of our society.
So yesterday, a client of ours brought their dog back for a little refresher training. Luke is a black lab, full of the joys of spring, and very lively to say the least. However at less than 2 years old, he wound up with cancer in his leg. The owners made the painful decision to have his leg amputated. He walks funny, looks funny, but has taken it with grace, and shown he will not let it get him down! This morning he runs out with a group of dogs here, and NOT THE FIRST dog even gave him a sideways glance. They all treated as what he was… a dog. What a revelation! To imagine that a dog with an obvious impairment, obvious difference, and with not an obvious change in his attitude, was accepted by a group of 7 or 8 dogs without the first one whispering to the other “Look at that!”. So I ask, do we have something to learn from our dogs?
