Author Archives: paulina
The Bridge between Dog and Man
“A dog, a man, a bridge in tale of terror, love”. The Miami Herald
“Dog in pink sweater survives fall off Brickell drawbridge”.
“A terrier is rescued after a steep plunge from a drawbridge on Brickell Avenue in Miami”.
Dog Falls Off Brickell Drawbridge; Saved By David Bernstein, Good Samaritan.
Huffington Post, July 19, 2012
Last Wednesday morning when we were getting ready for our Summer Camp Adventure I received a text from David (better known as “Branson’s Dad”, Branson being the handsome German Shepherd and good friend of many of your and our dogs). The text said, “Are you home right now? I will stop by in 5 minutes.”
When he arrived I noticed how worried he was and my immediate concern was for Branson. Then he started to tell me what had happened the night before….a small dog caught on the drawbridge…it was going up…the dog made eye contact with him….. he tried to get the bridge operator to stop…. nothing….. so he ran to save the dog, he almost made it, was so close…but it was too late…and the poor dog felt into the dark, into the water.
“Nobody helped, no one did anything. I feel so bad, I was so close but the river took him. What can I do? How can I find the owners to tell them that they don’t have to continue searching for him? Their dog is gone.”
My heart was so sad for the dog, for David, for the owners, for the people that did not do anything to help, for all the dogs that are lost, for all the humans that are lost in this busy, running life.
I knew exactly what David meant when he said, “He looked at me, I looked at him, right into his eyes, they were telling me something.” I understand that with all my being. I know that connection, that looking into the eyes and inside the being. I have experienced that and felt its power. It happened not too many years ago with a lost Boxer mix who looked me right in the eye, saying, “Save me”. Hours later, Ludo and I were able to catch him. “Rico” now lives happy in Oregon with my best friend Jen.
But David’s story was different. It had a sad ending.
David said….”I feel that the fact that I was there had some meaning, that the dog chose me to save him and I failed.” I hugged him with all my heart and told him that yes, it had a meaning, just one that he may not understand until the future, that someday he will find a way to explain it. I said that I was sorry.
Little did we know how soon that future would be…
I went to train with my campers but the feeling of what had happened, what David had shared with me was present all the time. David was sad. I was sad too.
David did not go to work. He returned to the bridge to search for the dog. He found nothing, heard nothing. He left, he returned. Making this beautiful story short (and sweet):
“The mixed breed dog in a pink sweater was found in a restricted area below the bridge. Bridge operators say it is a miracle the dog was able to land safely on a cement slab, but recent rains had cushioned the fall”
Who found this miracle dog? David. He was meant to be there. He did not give up. He returned. He found the dog. He saved the dog. He committed himself to it with time, with energy, with life, with dreams, with magic, with beliefs. He took many steps forward, where no one else believed it was possible, or worthwhile, to go and he arrived at this small lost but now found dog.
When he shared this second part of the tale with me I was so so happy, so full of joy. I pledged, “David, you are my teacher and the next time I have to take action I will go farther and believe deeper”.
I stopped working and went directly to the Brickell Animal Hospital to see this little dog. She, not he, is a beautiful mixed Terrier who we will be fostering until her family (or a new family) can be found.
David comes by everyday to spend time with her and to keep their magic connection.
By the way, do you know Brickell means “little bridge”? When the clinic asked for her name for the records I answered, “For now it’s ‘Brickell’. After all, she fell and then was rescued on that little bridge!
Happy End!
Summer Camp 2nd Edition!!!
Happy Camp #4
Real Life.
So for this camp we though ‘Let’s do the graduation in a busy scenario: Lincoln Road !! If we wanted distraction then this was paradise! So we had the entirely morning to do what “normal people” does when they go to a place like this: Walk, window shop, have a tea, conversation with people who by the way they were amazed with our group, we even had a tv interview!!, also a woman came and left her dog with us while she went to buy her own coffee , and a mom with a beautiful baby joined us for a while! What a great day and way to practice our obedience and good manners. How lucky we are!!
We divided the campers in two groups so they had one an one session and worked in the areas they needed the most. We observed that some of the campers needed extra training around bicycles so we decided to have an intensive bike, motorcycle, skateboard afternoon!
Finally the beautiful and well deserved play time to finish the day !
It is always hard to finish a Camp. It is so fantastic to see how dogs improved as the weeks passed by , how the new ones became part of the pack, and the shy/anxious ones developed more confidence . And of course, how much fun we had together!!! We want to thanks all of you – we are so “happy” to hear all your comments about how your dogs are behaving better and enjoying their time with us. Yeah!
We all love doggie camp !!
Until next one!
H. Camp # 3 – Bayside training
“Teachers’ Day” is today in Mexico (May 15) and we were very proud because all our students did their lessons very good !!
And We really did our obedience training homework in a very big, busy, fun & full of distraction classroom!
Good Job !
Good Boy + Good Girl !!
happy camp # 2 “Doggy Beach and Dock Jumping”
Who said we can not have a “Happy Wet Camp” and more when the campers have a whole Lake for themselves !
We were planning to come to this fantastic place since last week but we needed to postpone because of the ‘bad weather’ … haha how little did we know…! But the truth is that we finally had an awesome day at Performance Pup Center (www.performancepupsinc.com), Thanks Sally and Neil to make it possible!
All the campers enjoyed running and swimming and some were brave enough to jump off the dock. No restrictions – free to play and explore. The entirely place for us and we took advantage of that!
Of course, they did not know that we were observing and taking notes of their behavior and interaction with the rest of the pack as they were feeling complete by their own spirit. Well, with a couple “Comes” here and there but overall we were a very cool group enjoying our time together.
Time flew and we knew that this place will be one of the Top Ten to repeat in future camps.
So around 2pm we packed up the pack and we went to another park for our formal training session. Beautiful park full of shade . A perfect spot to practice and advance our obedience…. drop ding dang drop one, two, drops of water. ” the sky is a little bit gray, don’t worry, will not rain hard…… run !! run!!! “. we got really wet!!
We are sure that all our four legged friends are still laughing at us, like when you are a child and ready to have your lesson after a really really fun break and suddenly surprise! there is no class!!! Happy Camp!!
Dog Connection 