At Resthill we have care dogs. Dogs that will come into the office and put its head in your lap when they know you are having a bad or hard day or that you are just a bit off. Dogs that run with your car when you arrive in the morning for work, barking and galloping next to your car until you park, making you feel so welcome because they are so happy to see you.
Our oldest care dog is Rylee, a beautiful but old golden retriever with lovely soft brown eyes and the most generous personality you will not find with any other dog.
We always, jokingly tell people that Rylee is the one dog that they have to get passed at Resthill. He will approve or disapprove of people coming into the office.
When I started traveling with Gaia (my cat) to Resthill, she feared every other animal on the site. Rylee was the first one to make her comfortable at Resthill. He would peacefully occupy the entrance to my room for days and eventually, Gaia realised he is a friend and means no harm.
Today I saw something that again made me realise that we underestimate the intelligence of our animals’ emotions and intelligence. We were in the office, talking about the new resident while we were awaiting her arrival. The family told her that she is coming here to work, assisting with looking after the animals and we were talking about that specifically, Rylee was lying at my feet and was definitely listening to all this.
The next moment, I saw our new Resident with her daughter walking slowly towards the office, across the lawn. Rylee saw them too, got up, and walked toward them in his friendly, tail-wagging manner. On his way to them, he picked up a doggie toy (a blue bone) that was lying on the lawn. Rylee walked right up to the new Resident and present her with the toy bone as a welcoming gift. The whole scene was so precious. He must have heard us talking about her, coming to look after the animals at Resthill, and decided that he should present her with a special welcome.
Alet and Esmarie then walked them to the room that was prepared for the new Resident and Rylee, together with Buddy, a big white cross-breed Maltese, also a care dog, escorted them all across the yard to the newly prepared room and then to Burkei Home were they were introduced to all the other Residents.
We now have a beautiful black puppy called Bruce who is keeping every employee at Resthill on their feet. He is a cross between a black Labrador and the Africana Breed. Really a beautiful addition to Resthill and Gift, our foreman, decided that he will raise Bruce. I do, however, have a surprise for Gift because I see that Rylee is taking over a lot of the teachings of the young Bruce and we soon might have another special care dog at Resthill.
As always, beautifully written Aletta