A Dog Named Apocalypse

Many children here in the Philippines are afraid of dogs, and the children at the little children's home are no exception. And for some odd reason that lies beyond my capacity to explain, it seems like most of our forever families have dogs. I swear, we don't make dog ownership a criteria for choosing families, it just seems to work out that way.

It is our practice to have adoptive families over for supper at our house in Beverly with their new child. And we happen to be the proud pack of a beagle name Apocalypse (Paco to his friends and family). Fortunately, he happens to be a fairly calm dog who does not get overly excited by the presence of children. He does love to give kisses, however, so we put him on a leash when we have adoptive families over. We want the children to have a positive experience with a dog before they go home with their new family.

Last week, Nica's forever family came and we had two wonderful suppers with them. Going into it, though, Deborah and I had some concern about Nica and Paco. Nica wasn't merely frightened by dogs, she was terrified of them. She would start screaming if she saw a dog. Deborah wasn't sure that it would be enough to have Paco on a leash; it was possible he would have to be banished to the bedroom for the duration of the supper. But I wanted to give it a try, especially seeing as Nica was going to be going home to two dogs. Paco could be like sticking a toe in the water.

So Thursday night, Nica and her family are downstairs. Moment of truth. I leashed up Paco and we headed downstairs.

I took him into the lanai where everybody was sitting around talking. I sat down on the floor with him in Nika's line of sight, but not too close. Deborah encouraged Aubrey to come and pet Paco and Nica's kuya (big brother)followed suit. Nica watched the two boys pet Paco, and not a tear was seen nor whimper heard. A doggy miracle!

By the time Nica and her family left after supper on Friday night, Nica was running around without a glance at Paco. She even patted his tail. I must say, I was so proud of our beagle. He was the perfect dog to help Nica begin to overcome her fear.