People sometimes seem to relate to animals in a far more open, direct and honest way than they relate to other human beings.
I used to work with Riding for the Disabled. I was a volunteer for seven years and in that time, I saw much of a subtle interaction that went on between the children, some with quite severe challenges in life and the ponies and donkeys with whom they interacted.
Sometimes, there would be a tremendous transformation. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that animals have no expectations of us, no aspirations for us and no goals for us to have to achieve to earn their respect or love.
Animals take us exactly how they find us and don't care who we are, what our abilities or disabilities are or how well we communicate. They just evaluate us on how much love and attention we can give. We don't have to put it into words or even into very many actions ~ they just KNOW and return that feeling without question or hesitation.
Is that what gave the children their confidence and put so many smiles on faces?
Maybe.
Whatever it was, we have a lot to learn from the "take as you find and value for what that is" attitude of animals.
As for Golden Retrievers....here's one I painted earlier!
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