10/12/2025
Love this 🙏
Everyday I can see Tommy settling, softening and becoming the dog he’s meant to be ❤️
When a rescue dog first arrives, the world around her feels impossibly large. Every room carries a new scent, every doorway a different draft, every sound, no matter how small, seems to land like a question she isn’t sure how to answer. A clatter in the kitchen, a voice outside, the creak of a floorboard… it all keeps her just a little too alert, ears pricked, heart working harder than it should.
She wants to settle, you can see that. She curls herself into careful shapes, shifting now and then as though comfort is close but not quite within reach. Her eyes follow movement she doesn’t yet understand, and her body stays half-ready to bolt, even as she tries so earnestly to soften into this new place.
But slowly, gently, she begins to try. A light tap of her paw on a toy. A quick burst of play she stops as soon as she’s started, unsure if she’s allowed to let herself enjoy it. She explores in small steps, nose pressed to the floor, gathering courage from the quiet moments between the worries.
And time, in its steady, patient way, begins to mend what fear once frayed. She starts to understand that footsteps can mean company, not danger; that hands can offer warmth instead of harm; that a home can be a safe harbour rather than something to brace against.
Day by day, she eases into herself. The edges of her anxiety soften. Her tail lifts a little more often. She learns that rest is possible, that joy doesn’t have to be fleeting, and that love is slow, gentle, unwavering and has all the time in the world for her.
In that soft unfolding, she begins to trust that she is finally where she belongs.
Natalie P
2025
