Several months ago, one of the fixtures of the early am dog park crowd lost her 4 year old German Shepherd (GSD) very suddenly to cancer. Barleycorn* was a puppy mill dog, so disturbed that all she could do was pace in circles. Inga is 70ish, walks slowly with a cane and probably has emphysema. She has been rescuing and training GSDs for 50 years.
She trained Barleycorn to be her service dog and one would never have
known the dog's history from the way she blossomed and took care of
Inga.
When Barleycorn died, Inga, a strong, proud and stubborn woman, stopped coming to the dog park and, last I heard, broke off contact with most of her dog park friends.
Today, I stopped by the park late morning, and recognized Inga's car,
thanks to the "Well-behaved women seldom make history" bumper
sticker. (Did I mention I like and respect this woman?)
She was just coming up the walk, reaching for every breath and accompanied by Daniel, a black and tan, 5 month old GSD pup. He gave me a shy kiss, but made it clear that Inga is his charge and his person.
Daniel has big feet to fill, following after Barleycorn, but he is doing
his very best. The cycle of woman and dog being very good for each
other begins again.
*names changed for privacy
