Tyler's Intuition

I am often amazed at what dogs know , at how perceptive they are. They often just know stuff and what to do for us. Tyler recently reminded me of this.

I had taken him to visit our vet for a check-up. When we went in the office there were 4 little children sitting in waiting room chattering, laughing and coloring. Tyler likes children, mostly because we give them cookies to feed him whenever we meet them but he is polite and only approaches them with permission. I was on a mission, busy and wanting to get in and out quickly so we continued on by and went into the exam room.

When we came back through 15 minutes later all the little kids were crying and were very distressed. Their mother hugged them as she explained their dog was very ill and not expected to live very much longer. It was heart wrenching to see their pain at such tender ages. I went to the counter to pay and Tyler started pulling on his leash trying to get to the children. I pulled him back thinking he would be an intrusion on their sorrow but he was very insistent and kept pulling toward them. I asked their mother if it would be OK for him to greet the children and she nodded. Tyler went to the first child and put his head in her lap. She dropped her tear stained face on his head and hugged him. He stayed with her a moment and then moved on to the next little child and so on down the line until he had offered comfort to each. By this time the children's mother, the receptionist, vet tech and I were completely undone by this lovely simple offer of ease from this generous dog.

Tyler has always been such a sweet dog but even so I was totally unprepared for how intuitively he knew just what to do to help those little children. It was a beautiful moment I will long remember. Dogs are amazing, they just know stuff.