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SHABRIZ, THE HEALING PUP
By Darlene Montgomery
My friend Kathryn
received Shabriz, a little Lahsa Apso, to be her companion. Shabriz was a
handful, to say the least. With Kathryn gone
most of the day for work, the dog wanted her whole attention
when she arrived home. For a little
dog, Shabriz had a lot of
presence and strength. He pulled
Kathryn around until one
day, she fell and hurt her leg.
Each time her leg was beginning to get better, she would strain
it when the little
dog pulled too hard on the lead. When
Kathryn could no longer walk
him because of her injury, we discussed giving Shabriz to a
home, where he might be better suited. My friends, John and
Marianne, had a farm that was about an
hour away from
downtown Toronto. I suggested that they
would make excellent candidates
as adoptive parents for Shabriz. They
already had several
dogs, cats, goats, chickens, and some horses, but I knew
they showered all their animals with love. Kathryn and I both
felt good about this choice as a new home for Shabriz.
When Kathryn called the farm, John was in the hospital for surgery.
Marianne wanted a new friend, and she thought that Shabriz would
be the perfect
fit. So we took Shabriz to become part
of this family.
After John's recovery, whenever he was in the car, Shabriz would
ride around on his
lap and the dog liked to sleep in the family's bed. All of nine pounds,
Shabriz ruled the roost and held his own among John and Marianne's
other much larger dogs and huge horses.
He
was truly having the
time of his life and had become a real farm dog.
Then one day, four years later, when Marianne and John went to
the local farmer's
market, Shabriz got away from them and could not be found. Marianne was frantic. She put up signs iall around
their rural farm area.
Soon a man called, explaining that he owned a pet
store. Someone
had found Shabriz
and brought him there. When Marianne
and John arrived to pick up
Shabriz, they found him in the arms of a little ten-year-old
girl. He was all bathed with a
new fancy hair-do and a red bow on his
head. Quite a change for a little farm
dog who liked
to roll in the dirt!
The store owner took Marianne and John aside and told
them that
one year ago, this
girl's mother had died. The girl had
hardly spoken since that
time. After finding Shabriz, she
had fallen in love with the dog and had begun to speak and take interest in life
again.
When Shabriz saw Marianne and John, he communicated to them
that he wanted to
stay with this little girl. He seemed
to have no interest in leaving
her. It was clear to Marianne and John
that Shabriz had chosen
this little girl as his own. Marianne cried over losing Shabriz, but John and Marianne realized
that Shabriz was an angel who had come to bring healing to their
lives. So they
decided to let Shabriz go on to fulfill
his next mission. They knew
that now, their little dog had to go
where he could give needed
love and healing to a little girl's heart.
BIO:
Darlene Montgomery
is an internationally respected authority on dreams, spiritual
perspectives, and ideas. She is
an author, facilitator, and clergywoman who speaks to groups and organizations
on uplifting
subjects. Her latest book
CONSCIOUS WOMEN- CONSCIOUS LIVES:
Powerful and Transformational Stories of Healing Body, Mind,
and Soul, is a collection of true stories by women across North
America writing about their healing experiences. Darlene's Website is
www.lifedreams.org.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
Has an animal
companion left your home to fulfill a special purpose in someone else's life?
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