From one to two

Today's walking - 30 minutes with Parisse

I took Parisse for a walk today, always an experiment with an unknown result. She sort of walked, in her own way, at the far end of the leash, preferably on grass. After about 15 minutes she stopped in her tracks and there was nothing I could do to make her go forward. We were in an unfamiliar neighborhood and she showed how stressed she was - dripping wet drool, cowering, paws glued to the sidewalk.

She won. We turned back and she walked freely again until we made it home. That was so Parisse. She acts like she's been beaten every day of her life - but she never was. When the breeder-caretaker turned her in to Canine Companions for Independence, at eight weeks, she told the staff, "This one's different." The kennel staff noticed it too.

The good part is that I actually can take Parisse for a walk now even if I know in advance it will be an adventure. When we were first raising her we couldn't get her past our own front lawn before the hunkering and digging in began. Then came the round of canine specialists with no definitive diagnosis. So we're grateful for how far she's come, but she's still "different."

I've moved from one-point perspective, which I thought I'd never understand, to two-point which seems much easier. Maybe I'm catching on. There's always hope - for Parisse and for me!