We’re one of those families who have always adopted dogs. In fact, any stray with a loyal heart will find a home with us. The door is always open. A hot drink waiting. And, as our Mam seems intent on keeping Nestle single-handedly afloat, you won’t be able to pass over the threshold without being presented with a KitKat.
This is just how we roll.
The dog in the picture above is the newest adoptee in the Cox family residence. Rosie is a beautiful, deeply-sensitive, loving creature. But she, like so many of us, finds it difficult to trust because of the cruelty she has experienced.
Rosie was rescued from a farm on which all of the dogs were being shot. She watched her owner gun down some of the other animals before she was taken away. She came to us with a hunch in her back. Barely daring to lift her head to make eye contact. For the first few weeks she had to be walked onto her bed at night on a leash because she didn’t understand it was for her. Her joints are bare of fur from where she has slept on hard surfaces for years. She was a work dog. She doesn’t understand what it means to cherished for who she is rather than what she can do for another. She doesn’t understand what it is to truly belong.
Slowly, she is coming to understand what family is. She is gaining confidence as we show her more and more love. The first time I met her she wouldn’t even lie down on the floor. She wasn’t comfortable enough. She wanted to be ready to run, in case she needed to. To protect herself, like she’s always had to. Over time she will learn that though it’s a valuable skill to be able to protect herself, she doesn’t have to all the time. We will do that, because we love her.
This honest, loyal little soul who we’ve taken in is a reminder that one of the most difficult tracks any of us walk in this life is that of trust. I empathise with Rosie, some part of all of us does. When we’ve been hurt, trusting others is difficult. Knowing who to give your trust to seems an impossible conundrum.
It seems easier not to. If we don’t trust others, they can never hurt us that way again.
But watching Rosie in her early days with us, cowering away from love, it also reminded me that when we make that choice not to trust, we lose. We hurt ourselves. We miss out on being close to the best people life introduces us to because we never truly take them into our heart.
Rosie deserves to feel that kind of love. Deserves to know that there are people in the world who will protect her with all their might. That she is precious and wanted and that anyone who deems her expendable or who would exploit her good nature doesn’t deserve her company.
And, I think, we all deserve to know that. If more of us did, there’d be a lot less desperation in the world. And more kindness.