ONE DOG TELLS ANOTHER DOG

JOYPEACE

Since winter was coming fast to our area in Canada, I decided to “winterize” our home so that my family would stay warmer. As I was working outside on this project, I soon noticed a stray dog come around my home and stay there just watching me. After awhile he boldly came over to rub against my leg. “Strange!” I thought. But when I looked down, I suddenly discovered that his face was filled with porcupine quills. I immediately got a pair of pliers and began pulling the quills out. The dog was amazingly patient, even though I knew that he was feeling pain. Porcupine quills can easily enter the skin of an possible enemy, However, they are very hard to pull out. Occasionally, some blood appeared when the quills were removed. There were quills inside his mouth, around his nose and even buried in the loose skin of his neck. In all, I removed more than 50 quills. When the job was completed, my wife brought some water, and wiped the dog’s face and gave him a drink. He wagged his tail in thanks and relief, then ran off. Trying to get the job finished the next day, I noticed the same dog come around the corner of our home again. This time he didn’t come to me but kept appearing and then disappearing, as though playing some game. Then the reason for the unusual behavior became apparent as a second dog followed the first one around the corner. The first dog led the second over to where I was working. And as I looked down, I noticed that the second dog also had his face full of porcupine quills. So once again I fetched my pliers and removed all the quills from his face and head. Once again we brought water, cleaned the second dog up and gave him a drink. Again, the dogs wagged their tails in thanks and went off to live a dog’s life, free from quills. From this incident, it was clear that one dog can tell another dog just where to get help. That’s a good lesson for all of us, don’t you think?