Early in January, I was struggling with a deep depression and crushing loneliness. I went from being incredibly busy and surrounded by people all the time, to having pretty much all of my time to myself, by myself. (I’m still in this transitionary phase, although it is not nearly as debilitating as it was earlier this year). Because of these dark emotions that I was dealing with, we decided it would be best for me to have a companion animal sooner rather than later. (Our cats are great, and I love them, but they’re cats and they don’t reciprocate much).
We knew we couldn’t just take in any dog. We’ve never had a dog before as adults. We needed a dog that would fit into our life without causing more anxiety than I already was dealing with. I began checking the BHS website every day, knowing that the perfect dog would show up. We had cast our intentions and from there it was only a matter of patience. After a few days of checking constantly, a new face popped up on the available page. It was so sweet and so cute and the description provided by the behavior specialist sounded exactly like what we were looking for.
Korben came home with us and started changing our lives January 24th. My background working with preschool children transferred over surprisingly well to training a dog The biggest difference being that I can’t explain to a dog the way I would explain things to a child. His presence alone, his bright nature, is so healing to me. More than anything, he teaches me how to be in the moment. He doesn’t know why I might be angry, or sad, or frustrated, or irritated, or any other emotion really. He only understands how I make him feel. If I get into a bad space, he thinks it’s his fault, and I can see it all over his face. This innocent assumption reminds me to be present, to not allow my memories to dominate the present moment, and to actively demonstrate the love I have for him and the life we’re living.
When my mind would consume me, Korben licks my face and brings me back to my body, to where I am right now, right where I’m supposed to be. I’m so grateful for him and he can’t read this post, all I can do is show him by showing up in every moment.