Binky...my Unexpected Blessing

When I moved back to the U.S. after living in South America for 25 years, I was alone for the first time in my life. I rented a small apartment, found 2 jobs, and decided I needed a dog. I heard about the Springdale Animal Shelter and went there to find my future dog. The first visit was disappointing, as I wanted a very small dog. All the dogs were larger than what I felt like I could handle. I would have loved to adopt them all though! They all barked and wagged their tails, some "smiling", seeming to say "Pick ME! Pick ME!". I visited the shelter a second time a few weeks later, but didn't find a dog that fit me. The third time, I walked through the dog room again, but didn't find "THE" dog. I was very disappointed. I decided to take a look at the cats, although I'm not a cat person. As I reached the end of the row of cat cages, I spotted a very small white dog, trembling at the back of his cage. I couldn't believe my eyes! THIS was the dog I had been looking for! I opened the cage and slowly put my hand inside. The dog was almost too afraid to sniff my hand. Eventually he came closer and smelled my hand. I slowly touched him and he let me pet him. In time, I was able to hold him as he shivered. I had never seen a dog like him and didn't even know what race he was. I looked on the cage and saw that he was a male Maltese. I immediately went to the front desk and began the adoption process. He weighed under 5 lbs and the story was that a man brought him in, stating that his wife had agreed to dog-sit for a friend, but the friend never returned to pick up her dog. How could someone not want this precious white ball of fur? I named him "Bailey", but that would soon change.

When I put him in the front seat of my car, I had no idea if he would go nuts, whine or throw up in the car. Amazingly, he sat quietly the whole drive home, shivering all the way. It took him a couple of weeks to warm up to me, and about 3 months for him to relax enough to play. I had purchased dog toys for him but he wasn't too impressed or interested. One day I finished eating a cup of yogurt, and I let him lick out the inside of the yogurt cup. Within a few minutes, he was chasing the yogurt cup around the kitchen floor! I was SO thrilled to see him having fun! Now his favorite toys are detergent bottle lids, plastic bowls and such. No need to buy expensive dog toys-he doesn't like them and prefers plastic cups and bowls!

"Bailey" didn't seem to fit him and he never really responded to that name. I finally came up with "Binky" which seems to fit him much better. Binky doesn't like to go outside and get his feet wet in the grass. He fears falling, and doesn't like walking on tile or wood floors, because he feels that his feet will slip out from under him. He doesn't do stairs, nor does he jump up on the furniture, or off the furniture. This means that I have to lift him up to the sofa, and put him down. There's an upside to this: He's only on the sofa if I want him there! If I want him to "stay put", I just put him on a chair and he stays there!

Binky is an excellent traveler. When I'm walking or hiking and he gets tired, I just put him in my small backpack and he's good to go!

I feel blessed to have Binky in my life, and it seems that he's grateful to have my love and my family's love. Thank you God, for BINKY.