The Cat Lady

One of the helpers that Wednesday that I had my picture taken in the kennel was a lady who didn't even own a dog.  She's more of a cat lady--she has three of them.  However, she enjoys dogs and likes working with them.  She tells me that sometimes for a scaredy dog like me, a cat person is a good thing.  They can be more patient, not so impatient for a response or seeming success in working with a dog like me. A cat person is more willing to sit quietly with a dog to comfort them and draw them out slowly.
After all the photos were taken, this lady came back to my kennel.  She looped her slip lead around my neck.  She tempted me with a treat.  Meantime, the black and white dog across the way was barking his fool head off (...if I don't say so myself--some dogs just take the barking thing too far and have to be taught by humans to be more quiet.)  I did not move.  In fact, I inched back in my kennel a little.
Before I knew it, the cat lady, more accustomed to 10 pound cats then 40 pound dogs picked me up and carried me out of the noisy dog kennel building into the fresh air outside.
There was no dramatic breakthrough that day, although the sound of the iPhone taking my picture made me raise up my ears.

Photo: Kim Beer

But unknown to me, I had touched the cat lady's heart, and now I was the cat lady's project.