Last week, I went to a pet reading party, where I met and talked with about 12 dogs. Really, I’m not sure how many dogs I talked with. There was lots of coming and going and two gorgeous aussie/visla mixes, sleek and bouncy and shiny.
Katie had put me in a quiet room, and people would come in with their pets, one at a time, and I’d talk with their pets, and answer any questions they had.
About halfway through, Jennifer came in with her doxie, Sydney. Sydney was plump and crabby. I reached out to pet her head and I heard her say, “What do you think you’re doing!” Sydney was wearing a pink, spiky collar, and was all kinds of cranky.
I tried to talk with Sydney. She wasn’t interested. She just looked at me like I had lost my mind.
Her owner said, “She just seems really upset.”
The three of us just sat there. Sydney wasn’t talking. I was at a loss. Finally, I said, “Hey, I’m just here to help you. You can tell me anything.”
Sydney took a big breath and then she said, “I used to be beautiful and now everybody just calls me fat. They call me fat. They don’t see me as pretty, just old and fat. I’m sick of it!”
She showed me a picture of her as a younger dog, a beauty queen of a doxie. She was lovely.
I told her that she was beautiful, inside and out, and that people just needed to see her. Her owner said she’d take her for more walks and not let anybody call her names.
I’ve been thinking of this dog all week. I’ve been thinking of all the dogs that hear that they’re ugly or funny-looking or weird. There are millions of dogs walking around with wounded hearts because of the words we say and the things we think.
To be truly seen is such a gift. To truly see is a gift too.
Please, take a moment to look into your pets’ eyes tonight. See their beauty. Realize why you love them. You’ll get the gift of seeing and they’ll get the gift of being seen for the beautiful creatures they are.
that’s sad. It’s sad when it happens to people, and when it happens to animals. I tell Atlas how handsome he is all the time – but I will have to make a point of complimenting the other dogs I see, just in case.