Second Chances
By Cindy Gundrum
 Everyone has experienced it. At least once in their lifetime, we all do, and say, things that we wish we could take back. This is one of mine.
My beautiful Golden Retriever Ruby died of cancer in May 2002. I swore to myself, I would never get another Golden. She was my best friend for 11 years. I couldn’t ask for a better dog. It would be impossible to replace her, and I resolved to never try. In 2007, along came Dory. A beautiful golden puppy who was sweet as could be. I was in love. In 2008, just as Dory was turning one, we re-located from Saskatchewan to British Columbia. We packed up our lives in Regina, including of course, our two dogs. Dory, and Murph, our wiener dog. We moved in with relatives, who were not dog lovers. Dory went into heat and bled all over the floors in the house. This distressed the family who we were staying with, and to make matters worse, we were finding it very difficult to find a place to rent with 2 dogs.
I decided that maybe we should rehome Dory. I was kidding myself, “Ah, she’ll be OK, she’s young, she’ll adjust and move on.” Truth be known, I couldn’t have been further from the truth.
I placed an ad on Craiglist, and within an hour, I had requests about her. One family wanted to come and see her. I arranged for them to visit, but because it wasn’t our home, we had to do the viewing outside, and to top it all off, it was raining. We couldn’t really relax and talk, and get a “feeling” of them. We agreed then that we would drive out to the lady’s home to do a home check.
The entire time I was going about placing the ad, talking to the people about Dory, I felt sick. I felt horrible and guilty, I felt a physical sensation of wrongness. Did I listen to my body screaming no!? Of course not. We rarely do. So I proceeded to go to their home, and while aimlessly following her through their home, I felt as if I was outside myself, not really there doing this. Not really selling my little fur friend.
I left my beloved Dory there, I left her standing at the door barking after me…and the horribleness of it all was almost too much for me…my heart was broken, and what’s more, I could feel HER heart was broken too.
I called the lady that night, and Dory wasn’t doing well. I knew it, I could feel it. I could feel pacing, I could feel desperation to flee…I had flashes in my mind of fear, confusion and anger. I dismissed them, telling myself that I was making these feelings and pictures up in my mind. Each night I would cry, I missed her beyond words, and I had made such a horrible mistake.
I called the family, admitting my mistake to them, which was very humbling for me. I was told to leave them alone; I would never get her back.
On a daily basis, I would have visions, flashes of images in my mind; some of the images made me want to flee, run away, go home. I was hungry all the time. My stomach hurt, and I would see her little face in my mind.
Six months went by, I continued to miss her, and sent her messages. I wouldn’t stop trying until I could bring her home. Most of all, I sent her the message that I was sorry. Very Sorry.
I continued to try to stay in touch with the family, but they didn’t want to talk to us.
Finally one day, I said to my husband, “I’m going to let her go; I will trust that all the visions I have had are wrong. and that she is having a good life.” I knew this couldn’t be true in my heart, as what kind of people would be so cruel as to keep a family apart?
On Easter morning I woke up, and before I did anything else, I had the strongest urge I have ever had to go on Craigslist’ pets section. Once there, I discovered something expected, but unreal, at the same time! There she was, Dory up for sale! There was no picture, or mention of her name, but I knew it was her. I FELT it. I was right of course.
If I didn’t move fast, she would be gone forever, and I would never see her again! So I asked a friend to call about Dory and to buy her back for us.
Six months was a long time. I wondered: Will she remember us? Will she look the same? Was she okay?
We were shocked. She was emaciated to the bone. Her neck was burnt from the shock collar they used. They were very generous, and threw in the shock collar for free stating “Use it, it works.”
She didn’t recognize us for the first minute or two, but man oh man when she did…she licked us and hugged us and licked us some more saying, “Where have you guys been!?”
She returned to her normal routine at home as if she had never left. After a good vet check up, and some really good hearty meals and top of the line diet change, she is thriving once again!
When we have the chance to make something right, we should listen to our inner voice that guides us.
I saw what she went through. She knew that I was receiving her messages, and I learned from her, to NEVER lose hope. To hang in there, and believe.
I promised Dory that she will live with me forever; no matter what happens, I will never make that mistake again. To this day, she is my best dog ever.
I feel so fortunate to have been given the chance to right a wrong. I listened to that little feeling, that little something that says, “Believe in yourself first”.
We all have that moment, that moment right after you do, or say, something wrong; we feel it, we know it, we can take it back, and most of us want to. Take it back as soon as you can; the longer it takes, the harder it is. You know this already.
Practice taking it back and it gets easier. It shocks people when you say something like, “Well, I’m sorry, I didn’t really mean that,” but most are very, very appreciative.
Dory and I will always telepathically communicate, and for that I feel truly blessed. Dory is now 3 and is a very happy, wonderful companion. I love happy endings.
Cindy Gundrum Bio:
Born and raised in Quebec, I now make my home in beautiful British Columbia. Happily married with 3 great kids, and 5 furry kids, keeps me hopping!
Our family passion is to rescue dogs and cats in need. Writing short stories about my life experiences in my spare time helps me to reflect, learn, and grow.
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June 17th, 2011 @ 10:52 pm
I love this article – not many people really understand and appreciate the second chance we all deserve