The girls never asked for much for Christmas. We were in the car; I was driving them to their weekly appointment with the therapist. I could see them in the backseat in the rearview mirror. \u201cMom,\u201d Tianna said, \u201cI want a dog for Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tianna didn\u2019t speak much. Like her 10-year-old twin sister, Gianna, she lives with multiple disabilities. Both of them are legally blind, Gianna is autistic and Tianna has selective mutism. Getting a word out of her could be difficult. She certainly never spoke to strangers, and sometimes, I worried, she wouldn\u2019t even tell me what was on her mind. That\u2019s why I had to pay attention to this dog request.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we already have four dogs,\u201d I said. A couple of years back, the girls\u2019 neurologist had suggested that a dog might help them with their communication skills and give them someone to bond with. We\u2019d started out small with Skater, a mini fox terrier and Chihuahua mix, and the menagerie had grown from there to include two more Chihuahuas and a 100-pound pit bull named Chaos.<\/p>\n
Like this story so far? Subscribe to <\/em>All Creatures magazine!<\/em><\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n That name proved accurate. Our household was usually in a chaos of water bowls, food dishes, leashes, crates, collars, treats, chew toys and balls. We had covers on all the furniture, paw prints were everywhere and nearly every unprotected surface had tooth marks.<\/p>\n But the doctor was right. It was worth it. The dogs drew the girls out, gave them added responsibilities, received their hugs and leaped to their call. Somehow everybody got along. But could we take on another?<\/p>\n \u201cI want a dog that\u2019s like me,\u201d Tianna continued. \u201cOne that\u2019s differently abled.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMe too,\u201d Gianna chimed in. \u201cFor Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have to walk with a cane at school and everybody looks at me,\u201d Tianna said. \u201cI want a dog who understands what it\u2019s like to be different.\u201d<\/p>\n Their request nearly blew me over. A \u201cdifferently abled\u201d dog? Where on earth would I find a pet like that? With Christmas only a few weeks away? Would a new dog even get along with the ones we already had?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure it makes sense,\u201d I said, trying to sound every bit the loving but reasonable adult. I didn\u2019t want to disappoint them. They had faced Herculean struggles ever since their birth. We all had\u2014the doctors\u2019 appointments, tests, therapy, cataract surgery. That they were doing as well as they were seemed miracle enough.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to make sense,\u201d Tianna stated with the finality of a preteen who has made up her mind. I shook my head. Maybe God could make sense of this.<\/p>\n READ MORE: BEAR THE DOG TO THE RESCUE<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n For the first few years of their lives, I\u2019d get on the computer every night after they went to bed, searching for answers to the many problems they had, tracking down every possible solution or treatment, most of them dead ends. In the end I was left with more worries than anything else. I didn\u2019t want to be a mom like that, always worried. If I could only trust.<\/p>\n The day after the girls asked for a disabled dog, I had to take Skater to Sandy, the groomer. Sandy knows me well and takes good care of our pets. She loves dogs\u2014in fact, her place is named Must Love Dogs\u2014and if anybody could, she would understand my quandary.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll never guess what the girls want for Christmas,\u201d I told her. \u201cA differently abled dog. They want a pet that\u2019s like them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSweet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut Sandy, we don\u2019t have room for any more dogs. We\u2019re not a kennel, we have a house with a living room, stairs, a backyard.<\/p>\n You\u2019re different. You\u2019ve got a business here. You can rescue dogs and find a place for them. I can\u2019t imagine what our four dogs would do if I brought in another one…\u201d I looked around the store and my eye fell on a brown pit bull, even bigger than Chaos. \u201cLike this one…\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s Carmella,\u201d Sandy said.<\/p>\n The dog\u2019s ears pricked up at the sound of her name. She turned her head and looked at Sandy, got up and limped across the room, her spine arched, her legs bowed. She could hardly walk.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened to her?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t know for sure.\u201d Sandy bent down to scratch Carmella behind the ears. \u201cI had to rescue her from a kill shelter. She\u2019d been kept in a cage that was too small for too long. Didn\u2019t have any room to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: RESCUED BY A FOUR-LEGGED ANGEL<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHow horrible,\u201d I said. I hated to think that someone would treat a dog like that, leaving her maimed. She wouldn\u2019t even be alive if it hadn\u2019t been for Sandy. Fat chance that anyone would want to adopt her. \u201cShe\u2019s lucky you found her,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you want her?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI told you, I don\u2019t see how we can take on another pet. What would the others do? What would Chaos do? It\u2019s too big a risk for me to trust it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTry it out and see. She is <\/em>differently abled. Just what you said you wanted. You can bring her back if it doesn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n I brought Chaos into Must Love Dogs the next day. I was expecting\u2014or, rather, fearing\u2014a face-off with growling and snarling or worse. Lord, <\/em>I prayed, let\u2019s not let this get out of hand. <\/em>The two animals walked around each other, sniffing. Then their tails started wagging. Soon they were playing. It was a scene out of the Peaceable Kingdom.<\/p>\n \u201cA match made in heaven,\u201d Sandy said. \u201cCarmella is my Christmas present to you.\u201d<\/p>\n A few days later, I brought Carmella home. \u201cI have a surprise for you,\u201d I told the girls. Carmella waddled into their bedroom and jumped up onto the bottom bunk bed. It wasn\u2019t graceful in the least, her hind legs kicking at the air as she pulled herself forward. For a moment I thought she was going to fall right off. But her reward came with hugs from both sides. She was home.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to pretend that life with three Chihuahuas, one large pit bull, one differently abled pit bull and two differently abled daughters isn\u2019t hectic. There is always something, whether it\u2019s a challenge or a disappointment the girls faced at school or an emergency trip to the vet or a mess somebody made in the backyard. But we\u2019re happy. Very happy.<\/p>\n Get More Inspiring Dog Stories in Always By My Side<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Not long ago, the girls and I were taking the dogs for a walk and someone stopped to ask about Carmella. I was about to explain what had happened to her and how we had found her. Instead it was Tianna who spoke up, not even hesitating to talk to a stranger. \u201cWe wanted a dog just like us,\u201d she said. \u201cIt made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n The girls aren\u2019t the only ones who have grown. The other day we were in the backyard and Carmella hesitated at the bottom of the steps. Usually she went around to the front door, where there were no steps, but today she gazed at the stairs longingly.<\/p>\n \u201cCome on, Carmella, you can do it,\u201d the girls shouted. She looked around at us with her sweet eyes and then lunged forward. It was like her struggle to jump on that bunk bed the first day she joined us. One step at a time, she did it. When she reached the top we all hooted and hollered. \u201cYou did it!\u201d<\/p>\n She just had to trust. Like me. <\/p>\n Did you enjoy this story? Subscribe to <\/em>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n