My journey with Piper started in this way:
When I went to pick her up, frankly speaking, she looked like hell, like she’d been through hell. She was shell shocked, and, for lack of a better way to put it, a big piece of her was missing. She seemed hollow. I wasn’t sure how much she would change on my watch, physically or personality wise.
Therefore, her blossoming over the last couple of months has been a beautiful and unexpected, transcendent experience for me to bear witness to, and to participate in.
It has been gradual. Like her spirit, her body had no definition, and no tone. She wasn’t thin, like a lot of dogs from the shelter, it was as if she’d had no nutrition. We started giving her some healthy food and supplements for her skin and slowly, her hair has begun to grow back and now,there’s a light in her eyes. She had no sense of her body or her size and she would step on everybody all the time, dogs and cats included. Now she has more awareness of where she is, who she’s around and how big she is. The real treasure in this dog is her lovely and gentle spirit that I haven’t come across before. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. Today, when I came home, she barked with the other dogs and I may have imagined it, but I’d swear she howled as well when I walked through the door. She raced around the house with joy. We went outside to the back yard and she literally charged around like I’d never seen before. It was wonderful and hilarious.
A young couple in Northern California has taken a strong liking to Piper and are going to give her the loving home that she deserves. They’ve already bought her a coat and a rainjacket, knowing that she doesn’t like to be cold. I think it’s a perfect match and this is Piper’s just reward.
And she has been mine.
