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A dog owner tied his dog to a fence. Every day the owner walked by the dog and kicked the dog. Other people saw the man kick the dog and assumed that the dog was worthless and they too started walking by the dog and kicking the dog who was tied to the fence. But there were some who saw the dog and had compassion on him; and they lavished him with gifts and
attention, food and water, and kind words while lovingly stroking the dog as if to praise him for being humble and not biting or turning on the owner but they didn’t want to get involved.
One day a man walked by and thought the dog was institutionalized and he set the dog free. He neither berated the dog nor gave the dog food or water but simply left the dog to fend for himself. The dog not knowing what to do stayed by the fence. The people came by who gave him gifts, food, water and praise for not turning on his owner and lovingly stroked the dog but didn’t want to get involved. The dog wanted to follow each one of them home but was afraid of
what the owner would do. For days this went on without the owner noticing that the dog had been untied.
Then a storm came which was so treacherous that the dog forgetting his owner ran to safety. After the storm, some people found the dog and felt compassion for the dog. They
called him a rescue dog. One of them wrote an article about him and published it in the newspaper. The owner seeing the article and not wanting to be rioted for leaving the dog tied to a fence kept quiet about his ownership. The man who untied the dog felt responsible for
leaving him unattended. Those who walked by him and kicked him didn’t recognize him because his surroundings had changed. Those who showed kindness but didn’t want to get
involved hoped that someone would give him a good home. But those who found him stood back and prayed he’d find a good home.
One day a little girl walked into the dog pound where the dog was being housed. She stood at the door of the cage and beckoned him to come to her wondering what he would be like as a pet. He started towards her with a glimmer of hope in his eye then he remembered the
man and the other people who repeatedly kicked him and he lowered his head and backed into the corner as though he couldn’t get far enough away. Three times this happened. Three
chances passed by because he could not forget the tragedy in his past.
How do you think this story should end? Should the dog leave his past in the past and take a chance on a better future even if he has to remind himself every day that the days of being abused are behind him? Will he be able to separate the past from the present or in his mind
will he always remain the dog tied to a fence, lonely and mistreated by his owner, and judged unworthy by others? Will he remember the people who did show him kindness and commended him on his loyalty to his owner even though he was abused? Should he stay caged
in the pound until he is put down? Should someone keep working with him until he learns to trust again and gently remind him daily that he is valuable, he is loved and he is cared about?
What will change the dog’s thinking? Will he ever be free to give his heart to a new owner who will treat him well? What is he thinking?
Written By Lisa C Clewis, 10September201
