Dancing Bear

(Some old stories – with FD in mind.)

Dancing Bear is a little mahogany bundle of soft fur, a curly tail, and no eyes.

One was never developed at birth, and the other was left untreated by its owner, who was disgusted that the little dog wasn’t going to be sale able. She took him away from his mother a few weeks too early and left him outside, hoping that he would die out of sight and definitely out of mind.

However, the fates intervened, and the little underfed puppy finally landed in a safe place with a person who loved to hug and cuddle the little bit of fluff and fur.

After a few weeks, it became apparent that this was no ordinary puppy.
When the other sighted dogs, boisterous, bigger and bubblier, ran and chased and played as a happy pack, Dancing Bear put his elongated muzzle in the air and sniffed.

Then he daintily pranced his way toward the rumbling, tumbling dogs. Never mind when they changed direction. Up went the nose, and dancing went the feet.

It seemed as if the little fellow never took a misstep.

But what became his trademarks were Dancing Bear’s dance for joy and his smile!

As other health problems and congenital deformities became apparent, he lost weight and had a terrible time digesting food. He was soon debilitated enough to have to undergo a major surgery to readjust his intestines. Dancing Bear was painfully thin and tired easily.

He also never grew in a full set of adult teeth. But when he opened his mouth, Dancing Bear produced a charming innocent child-like smile! Against his dark red and black-tipped fur, his teeth lit up his face.

As he slowly convalesced from his surgery and illness, this littlest blind dog unfailingly approached to be petted and loved. Using his four legs as springs, he jumped up straight in the air and twirled. He wiggled his midsection and moved like an inchworm. His smile never wavered, with his muzzle tilted up to catch the aromas around him.

Dancing Bear doesn’t take offense when another dog reproaches him for an unintended bump. He doesn’t pout over his slow speed or his inability to catch the other dogs in a game of canine tag. He never complains about being shoved out of the way at the water bowl. And if he misses a treat because another dog snatches the prize before he realizes that it’s under his nose, he just smiles and patiently waits for another chance.

What Dancing Bear does have is the spirit of Joy. Inside, outside and all around him is the bright aura of a being thoroughly en-JOY-ing living in the moment.
He is also a Nurse Bear. He hones in on any being that is suffering, and he offers comfort, a tender tongue to lick a wound, a soft, but insistent muzzle over which to rest a weary hand or a tired paw, and his warm fur as a pillow to a shivering, ill cat.

Dancing Bear doesn’t need eyes to the external world to know and to diagnose and to minister to hurts. He is much wiser and intuitive than to rely solely on eyes. He relies on Joy!