When my brothers and sister and I were very, very tiny, probably just about new-born, the people at the barn would bring friends just to look at us. They couldn’t touch us – just look. Many of them said they had never seen a puppy family.
“They are so cute, oh look at blah, blah, blah.”
As we grew a little bit, some of these people came back to see us again and again. Still they did not touch us, but one lady seemed to like me especially. She would sit on the straw near my family nest and talk just to me.
“You are such a pretty girl. You have lovely ears” and so on. She made me very special. I would just stare at her.
After her last visit, Mum pulled me out of the nest, away from the others. She said to me,
“My dear little puppy, if the lady comes to see us again and she is especially nice to you, I want you to do something for me. Can you show her it pleases you that she talks to you?”
“Whatever should I do? I said, ”I stare at her.”
Mum told me,
“Why not try wagging your little tail or moving your head? She will know you like what she is doing.”
I told her I would give it a try and so I did on the lady’s next visit.
When she came the next time she seemed to run into the barn with a white bag dangling from her arm. She called out,
“Hello, my pretty little one.”
I did as I was told, and wagged my tail at her, not just stare. Do you know, I felt quite happy inside, and the lady got a big smile on her face. She bent down in the straw and said all the same nice things to me, while she fumbled about with the white bag. Out of it came a long rope with a ball tied to it. She placed it beside me and said,
“This is just for you little one.”
I moved toward it and sniffed. It didn’t smell like Mum, nor like the little treats we got every day to help our teeth. I moved a little closer. Nothing to sniff or smell. I just stared at the thing. Soon I got tired of it and crawled back to Mum all nice and warm, to peek out at the lady and her strange thing from the white bag. To tell you the truth, I was more curious about the white bag. The lady looked a little sad and soon left the barn.
I looked at Mum, and can you believe it, her bushy eyebrows were frowning at me.
“Come with me my dear, I would like to have a talk with you”.
These little talks usually meant trouble. I skulked down and slowly followed behind her and said to myself,
“What did I do? I wagged my tail.”
She began by telling me how proud she was of me, I had wagged my tail and looked at the lady. Too soon I thought,
“Whew, I’m not in trouble.”
But Mum continued talking,
“The lady brought you a present, little one. You’ve seen when I’ve been given a present. Stop and use your memory,”
I remembered. Just the other day someone brought Mum a neck scarf (it was all kinds of pink, my favorite color) and put it around her collar. She wagged her tail and even licked the person’s hand. I told Mum what I remembered, and asked her if she liked the scarf. She told me she liked the scarf, it made her happy inside to be given a present. It wasn’t a thing she could wear all the time because it got in the way when she fed all us puppies.
I remembered what I had done when the lady gave me the THING. I sniffed and moved away. It did not interest me. I could have been more curious and see if maybe I did like it. I could have tried.
I liked that lesson, because after it, I became more curious. If I am, sometimes I discover many wonderful things I would have passed by. Think to yourself, do you ever look at things and turn away from them? You may miss many wonderful treasures and joys.
Do you remember to say thank you for gifts and nice things that are said to you, or done for you? I would like to see if you could try. Maybe take an ordinary day and see how many times someone does something just for you. I hope you say thank you. I bet on an ordinary day you may say “THANKS” at least five times.
Love, Charlie Rose
When you read about how I take care of things, you will hear about a gooly bird, which if you do not know, it is not like a red breasted robin, nor a black raven and it does not sit in a tree. It is a gooly bird!
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