Lydia the Angel Dog

I've got to share the story of what happened yesterday with Lydia, my 17 month old Great Pyrenees puppy. We were going for a walk yesterday. She's still got a lot of puppy in her so its quite a romp. But she's pretty obedient. And she doesn't usually think she has to greet the people we pass. We just walk on by. We were walking past a house and she kept looking over at a very elderly man who was doing yard work in his back yard. Already this was unusual behavior for her. He was probably about 40 feet away from us. He was busy and not even noticing us. Finally she stopped and turned her body sideways from the way we were walking. She was facing the man and his backyard. I pulled a little on the leash and told her to come on. She stiffened her legs as if to dig in her heals and wouldn't move. And she looked at me with a gentle but determined look that said, "I'm not going anywhere." It was at that moment that the elderly man came walking through his gate. She got so excited and began to bounce around. By now he noticed her and as he walked toward her, he talked to her. As soon as he got close, she sat down very calmly for him to pet her head. Then she lifted herself up on her hind feet slowly and gently and he reached out and held her front feet in his hands. She then put her face about 1/2 inch from his face and smelled his breath - something I've never seen her do. After that, she sat down again and he rubbed behind her ears for a while. And then we went on with our walk. 

One other time she showed this kind of awareness of the feelings of others. She saw a woman in the vet's lobby. Without any hesitation the first moment she saw her, she reached slowly and put her feet around the woman's neck and lay the side of her face against the side of the woman's face. I was afraid the woman would be upset and reached for her, calling her name. But the woman, who now had tears streaming down her face, said, "No, she's alright. She knew I needed this hug today."

I've had animals my whole life and believe they are very sensitive to our feelings. But I'm starting to think this puppy has an extraordinary sensitivity. I can't help but wonder what is going on in the elderly man's life that Lydia felt the need to "minister" to him yesterday. I was glad to have been able to facilitate the moment for her.