A Tale of Two Dogs

“Blue” was found in the mountains at 10,000 feet. A cold, skinny, roughly nine-month-old puppy whose collar (with no tags) was so tight on his neck that some of the hair had been worn away. He was perfect. He became our family dog and our three kids fought over who got to have him on their beds. Kind, loyal and smart, Blue also had significant separation anxiety. He would do almost anything to get close to us, or to get away if there was a perceived threat (thunderstorms in particular freaked him out.)
When we had to say goodbye to our beloved Blue in November of 2019, we were convinced we would wait before we got another dog. Dogs teach us so much about life and death. We didn’t want the responsibility and maybe it would allow us time to travel more?
We made it roughly 2 months and then realized that at our core, we are “dog people.”

We settled on “Willie.” A little Nelson, a little Mays. There was really no reason we should have brought home the 8 week old puppy but we took the plunge in late January. Within 6 weeks we were deep into lockdown and Willie was quickly growing.
Caring for Willie and playing with him has been a bright light in the drudgery of COVID. He is goofy, sweet and big (over 85 pounds!) He also has benefitted from the attention he received while we were hunkered down.
We just left him for the first time and were worried that he would struggle with the separation. He didn’t and our worry was ill founded. He has a secure attachment to us, something Blue always struggled with.
People need to feel attached just as dogs do. Sometimes we work with kids who have an insecure attachment. These kids need understanding and support to help them build skills and insight regarding the trauma associated with their particular attachment style. There are great placement options for young people needing attachment work. Some of them even have canines help in the work. Meyer EFS can help families find these services. We certainly learn a great deal from dogs!

Blue and Willie!