The woman entered the dog refuge with a great deal of apprehension.
She was a middle-aged widow, looking for a companion. She had given the matter a great deal of thought before making the trip into town. She was still nervous about making such a big change in her life. She didn’t have to make any decisions straight away. She would just take a look around, nothing else, if that’s what she wanted. She had heard good things about the refuge home.
After introducing herself, she was told that she could stroll between the cages unaccompanied if that was what she preferred. There was a great deal of barking as soon as she entered. She went through slowly, reading the cards. Some of the names were quite inventive and unusual. She began wondering how so many of them ended up in the place. She was about half way down the long aisle when she saw the name ‘Lulu’ on the card. Looking in, she saw no sign of the dog. After a while, she whispered the name. At this, a young, well-kept animal pushed its way out of a blanket in the corner of the enclosure. It trotted obediently across to the sound of its name.
The woman was delighted. She crouched down, and through the cage, stroked the soft hair of its head, saying, “Hello. My best friend at school was a Lulu.”
The dog whined and nuzzled the hand.
“You know, we never had pets,” she went on, “My late husband, bless him, just couldn’t be around animals of any kind, he was allergic, you see?”
Lulu gave a little whine.
“Oh! No! Don’t you worry about that, I’ve never had that trouble.”
Lulu’s head bounced, as though she understood.
“And,” she went on, “we never had any children. Couldn’t, you see.”
Another whine and some hand licking.
“Ah! That’s nice,” she said softly, “you like me do you?”
This was answered with a delicate yip.
“Well, I like you too. I’ve never owned a dog. We’ll have to work on it together, alright?”
Two paws came up and hung onto the cage. The wide-eyed dog, Lulu, gave a soft, yet satisfying bark.
The woman whispered, “OK then,” and reluctantly left the animal looking worried, while she returned to the office to make arrangements.
She had no idea it would be so easy!