True 6th Sense

You know how people say that dogs have a sixth sense? Well, I’m convinced that our dog’s sixth sense is being able to tell when a person has Autism. No, I’m not being sarcastic.

For years and years I begged my parents for a puppy and they’d always say, “if you keep your room clean, we’ll get you a puppy.” I wasn’t liking my chances.  But, by the grace of God, on my 11^th birthday I found the cutest puppy in the basement waiting for me. I named her Angel and, of course, I loved her right away.

We had never had a dog before, so we didn’t really know how Eric would react to her. He seemed confused at first as to why she was there but he’d pet her from time to time…then she would lick him and he’d get disgusted and return to the computer.

As time went on and he realized that she was there to stay, he started petting her more and paying more attention to her. By “petting her,” I mean he’d pull on her ears or tail and examine her paws by pressing on the bottoms of them.

Sometimes, when he would get excited, he would run around the house while she was lying down and he’d step on her without realizing it, or without caring. We’ll never know for sure.

What I find fascinating is that when Eric would step on Angel, pull her ears and tail, play with her paws, etc., she would just let him. Most dogs would have probably bitten him or barked at him in that situation, even if he wasn’t hurting them.

Usually Eric was gentle with Angel, but the times when he was a little rough, she wouldn’t bark and she wouldn’t bite. She’d just whimper a little bit to let him know he was hurting her. If he didn’t stop, she’d softly touch his hand with her teeth, but she would never bite him.

When he finally stopped, she’d lick him and stare at him with her little puppy dog eyes as if she was saying she was sorry for having to put her teeth on him. Maybe I’m just crazy, but I really think she understood on some level that he was different and that she had to have patience with him. 

Regardless, she loves Eric. She watches for his school bus in the morning and barks to let us know when it’s there. When the bus comes back to drop him off, my dad tells her that Eric’s home and she sprints out the door to greet him.

Angel is definitely the best dog our family could have gotten and her bond with Eric is so special. I’m not sure if I’ll ever understand it, but they definitely understand each other.