I’m not sure what Dalila is trying to communicate.
How Dalila’s Story Can Inspire Your Journey
It’s hunting season and although there are no hunters on my property, they are close enough that the gunfire carries. Dalila is terrified of the noise.
A Heart-Stopping Escape
She’s hypersensitive to sounds. Last spring we went out to feed and muck out and although it didn’t look stormy there was one brewing. Just as we got to the barn, I heard a few low rumbles of thunder. Usually in these situations, she is annoyingly and amusingly close to me. As I was getting ready to feed, I noticed she wasn’t with me.
I fed the horses and went up to the house, hoping she had been let in. She hadn’t.
It was starting to rain so I got in my Jeep and searched the pasture fearing that she had bolted into the trees and had her collar caught on some brush. She also doesn’t like to be restrained so it would not be a good situation if the collar didn’t break. And I didn’t think it would.
Dalila, the new puppy, is an Australian Shepard x Border Collie.
Now it was pouring. I was driving by the trees with my window open to find her. I didn’t.
I went to the house to figure out my next steps. I called the local veterinary clinic and gave them a description and my contact information. She told me to call the animal shelter and leave a message because they weren’t good at answering the phone. The message gave their hours – they were hardly open – they were hardly open no wonder they didn’t answer.
I found some pictures of her to post on FaceBook and made a post to the local buy, sell, trade group. Then I went to NextDoor to make a post there. The first thing I saw was her picture and a phone number to call to claim her. As I picked up my phone to call the woman she was calling me. She had called the vet clinic and gotten my number.
We arranged to make the swap. She said she had charged into their house when her husband opened the door out to their carport. By the time I got her she was dry. I can’t imagine she was dry when she got into their house when I google mapped it the shortest route was almost two miles and across a highway.
I have since taken her collar off – she’s chipped, and I know what to do if she bolts again. A couple of times since then I’ve noticed she wasn’t with me and when I called, she came running from outside the gate.
Fear can be tough to get through. I think part of her fear was brought on by me. I got Dalila in April. On the second of July, I put her out around 4:00 in the evening. I went into the office to work and forgot that she was outside. Our neighbors started their fireworks for the evening. By the time I let her in she was terrified. It probably didn’t help that my dachshund didn’t like fireworks either.
Dalila and Hans hiding under my desk from the fireworks.
Healing Through Connection
I can’t go back and undo that. If I knew how to do it, I would take her through the Gestalt process to see if we could work through that fear.
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Onward!
