Treat Me Right-Lisa Freeman

Isn’t it funny how God will put something in our life to test us? Something that we are so opposed to, so against, that we think can’t possibly be His will? That’s exactly what happened to me one sloppy, cold, wintry afternoon.

I was on my way home from my daughter’s 6^th grade basketball game. In the midst of heavy traffic a small pooch charged under my van. Freaking out, I slammed on my brakes, and jerked to a stop. Although I didn’t feel a THUMP, Melissa and I got out thinking the worst.

We peered under the van on either side. Within seconds, she said, “I got ‘em.” When I looked over, he was in her arms. “He’s so cute,” she said. “Can we keep him?”

I couldn’t believe she was asking me to go against our number one rule. I told all four kids when we got our brand new house, ABSOLUTELY NO PETS!

But what was I going to do? The animal lover inside me couldn’t put the pup back in harm’s way. “Well, he is sort of cute,” I agreed. “Okay, but only for one night.”

Melissa smiled big and hopped in the van, drenched pooch on lap. When I caught a glimpse of her new white T-shirt, I wanted to take back what I had just said. It was covered in black muddy paw prints! “It’s going to take me an hour to stain stick that shirt!”

“I’m sorry, Mom. But at least he’s okay.”

Yes, I guess if there was anything positive about that moment, it was definitely that I hadn’t killed an animal. As I studied the cute little black markings around his face, the smell of wet dog nearly gagged me. I opened the windows a crack. “You’ll have to give him a bath immediately.”

When we got home, the pup jumped out of Melissa’s arms as soon as we were in the door. With his tail between his legs and head low, he charged straight for the couch. “NO!” I screamed. “Get down!” He lowered his head, whole body shaking, and licked his chops. “Get Off!” I screamed again.

Melissa quickly rescued him and headed for the bathroom. Soon the news of the new dog spread throughout the house. Now all four kids were laughing, giggling, and splashing in the bathroom. It was nice to hear them having such a good time.

My hubby, John, had just woken up from all the commotion. “I thought you said no pets,” he teased.

I rolled my eyes. “Believe me; it’s just for one night.”

The dog pranced through the kitchen toward us. “He is cute,” John said.

I smiled for a moment. Then I watched in horror as his wet feet made paw prints on our white tile floor. With two kids on either side, he walked into the living room, gave his small body a mighty shake, then sat down, tail up, and scooted his bottom across the floor. All the kids giggled. But I wasn’t even smiling.

I know the BIBLE tells us to pray about everything, but this was one thing I didn’t feel I needed to pray about.

“That’s it!” I screamed. “He’s outta here!” Fighting off the kids pleas of ooh’s and ahh’s, I picked him up by the scruff of his neck and set him firmly outside.

I cannot tell you how many times I tried to get rid of that dog over the course of the next few days. But somehow he’d always end up back at my house. That first night, my neighbors brought him back. Then, the next day when I called the dog pound, they said they had no room, but that I could place in ad in the paper for five days and if no one claimed him, I could keep him. The kids were thrilled. But I placed the ad, in hopes that his owner would call. For the first 2 days, I sat by the phone waiting for it to ring. Nothing.

That dog followed me everywhere. He even jumped in my bed at night. “Oh, no way, Pal,” I’d say, as I pushed him off. “This is MY bed.”

On the third day I took the dog we were now calling “Buddy” on a three-mile walk. Upon returning home, I found John and the kids raking the yard. “I lost him,” I announced feeling as though I’d gotten rid of the biggest headache of my life. Everyone looked at me like I had tried to murder someone. I didn’t care what they thought, I was rid of that dog, his smell, his nasty habits, and now my house would stay clean and looking just like new.

But within 15 minutes, “Buddy,” panting and breathless, staggered into the yard. The kids cheered and ran to him like he had saved the world. John looked at me and smiled, “Well, I guess we have a dog.”

I smiled too. “I guess so.”

I didn’t give the ad in the paper another thought. But when we came home for church, there was a message on our machine. “I think you have my dog.” I called the lady back, and sure enough, when I called out “Snickers” those little brown eyes sparkled and he ran right to me, tail wagging faster than ever.

After I hung up the phone and told the kids the news, they huddled around the brown ball of fur and just sobbed. I tried to be strong, but a few tears trickled down my cheeks. I looked over at John. He was sniffling a little too.

When the lady came to our door, my heart dropped. I wiped my eyes and let her in. “Here,” she said, handing me his shot record, “You can just keep him. We have two other dogs at home.” She also showed me a huge scar on her arm and told us that he’d bitten her. I couldn’t imagine this sweet, gentle dog ever biting anyone—at least without a good reason. So I didn’t ask any question. I just gave her a huge hug.

Now the tears were flowing like a river.

After we thanked her, she left. As I watched the kids laugh and play with Snickers—I thought we might have had a brand new house before he came into our lives, but now we have a HOME!

Neat Facts About Snickers & I:

-We were both runaways

-We were both came from abusive situations

-We were miraculously brought together by God to share our story

-We do workshops (both Christian & Secular) to stop abuse, bullying, dating violence, and violence

-Our story “A New Home” was published in the New York Times Best Seller “Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul” in 2005 (You can buy an autographed copy from Lisa's site here: "Chicken Soup for The Dog Lover's Soul" )

-Snickers became a Certified Pet Therapy Dog after only 2 weeks of training

-Snickers learned to do 10 tricks in just 10 days and now we use these tricks in our workshops

-Snickers is the most healing dog—whenever anyone in the family is ill, he lays right by their side until their better

-Snickers has NEVER bitten anyone in the 7 years we’ve had him—and I have four kids with varying disabilities
Snickers takes the "dis" out of disabilities when he visits the elderly.

To read more about Snickers & Lisa, Pet Therapy, or even the program they offer, check out their website @ www.abusebites.com or contact Lisa directly 989-729-2124.

Lisa and Snickers story was recently in the Flint, MI. newspaper The Flint Journal. Read the story here:
Snickers the therapy dog can heel and heal