Dog Travels Ten Miles from Adoptive Home to Find Beloved Canine Partner Left Behind

I have known dogs have emotions, don't you? For us and for each other. Those of us who have and love our dogs can't miss it. My dog, Maggie, (MAGGIE the dog who changed my life) was my main teacher on this one, although I think I always knew. They love, hope, can be sad,disappointed, heartbroken, and more. I think only animal researchers have to fool themselves to believe it isn't so.

It began on the streets of Terre Haute, Indiana. Two street dogs, Ben and Jade met and bonded. OK, it seems they fell in love when you hear the whole story, reported both on the Care 2 Blog and in The Tribune Star. They were both known and cared for in their community, but when Jade became pregnant, they were trapped and taken in by the humane society in Terre Haute. Initially kenneled together, the shelter separated them when Jade gave birth. Mom and pups were taken into foster care for eight weeks. All six puppies were adopted. Then Ben and Jade were reunited at the shelter until ... Ben got adopted and Jade didn't. For three weeks Ben was in his adoptive home while Jade remained in the shelter ten miles away. On a cold December day Ben seized his chance when Jason Lawler took on the trash. Ben darted out the door and trekked the ten miles in the cold back to the shelter to find Jade.

It's a touching story with a beautiful ending. I encourage you to read the full story in The Tribune Star and the Care 2 Blog where I first learned how love will find a way with two beautifully bonded dogs. Let's just say that even though the Lawlers were convinced they only wanted one dog, their minds and hearts were changed! Read the full reunion story on one or both of the links I shared above. It brought tears to my eyes. How about you?

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MAGGIE the Dog Who Changed My Life

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What Are Our Animals Capable Of?

Posted By Dawn Kairns, Author of MAGGIE: the dog who changed my life

As topics I wrote about in MAGGIE, I addressed the questions below about dogs/animals in many of my radio interviews for my book, and when I spoke to groups at book signings. What do you think? I'd love to hear your responses:

Miss Maggie

1. Are dogs/animals capable of reading/knowing our thoughts? If so, how do you think it happens?
2. How do dogs/animals communicate with us? Do you know how to read them?
3. Are dogs/animals equal or lesser beings than humans and why do you think so?
4. Do dog/animals have emotions?
5.What is the best diet for a dog? Share the up and down sides of dog food.
6. How often should dogs/cats be vaccinated?
7. Where would you get your dog/pet if you were going to bring one into your home?
8. Do you think losing a pet is easier, harder, or the same as losing a family member? Do you know how to best support a friend or loved one who has lost a pet? Do you know how and where to get support for yourselves?
9. How have your own dogs/pets changed or made a difference in your lives or the lives of others?
10. What important messages have you received in your dreams?

Let me hear your thoughts ...

Inside the Minds of Animals

What animals do know that humans were taught animals didn't have the capability to know was one of the motivations for me to write my book, MAGGIE the dog who changed my life. Science is now showing what so many of we animal lovers have known intuitively from our animals for a long time: that they think, communicate, empathize and feel. It's nice to see the science catching up, as this August, 2010 cover feature in Time Magazine demonstrates.

Excerpt from Time Magazine's Inside the Minds of Animals

"Our dodge ... has always been that animals are ours to do with as we please simply because they don't suffer the way we do. They don't think, not in any meaningful way. They don't worry. They have no sense of the future or their own mortality. They may pair-bond, but they don't love. For all we know, they may not even be conscious. "The reason animals do not speak as we do is not that they lack the organs," René Descartes once said, "but that they have no thoughts." For many people, the Bible offers the most powerful argument of all. Human beings were granted "dominion over the beasts of the field," and there the discussion can more or less stop.

But one by one, the berms we've built between ourselves and the beasts are being washed away. Humans are the only animals that use tools, we used to say. But what about the birds and apes that we now know do as well? Humans are the only ones who are empathic and generous, then. But what about the monkeys that practice charity and the elephants that mourn their dead? Humans are the only ones who experience joy and a knowledge of the future. But what about the U.K. study just last month showing that pigs raised in comfortable environments exhibit optimism, moving expectantly toward a new sound instead of retreating warily from it? And as for humans as the only beasts with language? Kanzi himself could tell you that's not true.

All of that is forcing us to look at animals in a new way..."

Read the entire Time magazine article here: Inside the Minds of Animals

Posted By:

Dawn Kairns  

Author of MAGGIE the dog who changed my life

Website: www.dawnkairns.com 
Blog: Dawn Kairns and Maggie the Dog  

Twitter: themaggiebook

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