Camila got a second chance at love when she met Isaac and was overjoyed when she got pregnant. However, her dog began to behave strangely. Ella camila didn’t understand until it was almost too late.
Camila sat at her husband’s grave with her German shepherd, Rocky, by her side. Even now, looking at her name engraved on the marble tombstone, she couldn’t believe Harry was gone.
In a matter of days, his life had been turned upside down. A few hundred hours were enough for the diagnosis of cholangitis in the emergency room to become sepsis and Harry was gone forever.
Rocky groaned and pressed against Camila’s leg. She bent down to scratch behind his ears.
“I miss him too, boy,” Camila sobbed. “But now you’ll have to settle for playing with me.”
Camila stayed for a few more minutes before adding the flowers she had brought to Harry’s grave. She and Rocky went home, and she got distracted for a few hours hiding candy around the house for Rocky to find.
The dog didn’t show any of his usual excited gyrations and barks when he located the cookies that Camila was hiding between the cushions of the sofa and outside of it. He may not have understood where his master had gone, but Rocky was in mourning too.
A year later, Camila found a reason to smile again. Her name was Isaac. They had a lightning romance. At the end of the year, Camila and Isaac were married and expecting their first child.
“I never thought I’d feel so happy again,” Camila confessed when she and Isaac were snuggling on the couch one day. “It seems like a dream”.
“That must be because you are the woman of my dreams.” Isaac leaned in closer and kissed Camila’s forehead.
Camilla snorted. “That was pretty cheesy.”
“I know, but I can’t help it. Being with you has made me realize that all the romantic clichés were once deep, original thoughts, beautiful, inspired by amazing women like you.”
Camila hugged Isaac and kissed him back. The romantic moment could have gone further if Rocky hadn’t rushed into the living room with the leash in his mouth. He barked at Camila and started spinning in circles.
“Okay, okay, you’re right, Rocky. It’s time for a walk.”
Camila got up and hooked the leash to Rocky’s collar. She didn’t notice the resentful look Isaac gave the dog as they left the room.
A few months into her pregnancy, Rocky became Camila’s inseparable companion. Instead of lying in the sun or chasing pigeons, he stayed by her side wherever she went. He would even get on the sofa to lie down with his head against her swollen belly.
When she walked, she clung to his thigh with her nose pressed against her belly. Every few steps she took, Rocky would bark. He would claw at the door if she locked him out when he was in the bathroom and slept on the floor next to her all her night.
“This dog is driving me crazy,” Isaac said over dinner one night. “The only thing I’ve heard since I got home is barking, barking, barking. Does it never stop?”
“I wish I understood you, Rocky. I feel like you’re trying to tell me something.”
“He’s protective of me and the baby,” Camila replied. “He seems cute to me. He makes me feel like Harry’s spirit is with me, watching over me. We’ve always wanted kids, so maybe he’s using Rocky to express his jealousy too.”
Camila smiled at Rocky, who was lying at her feet with his head resting on his paws. She heard the faint clang as Isaac put his fork down on his plate and noticed him rise from the table in his peripheral vision.
“You haven’t finished your food,” Camila told her.
“I’m not hungry anymore,” he replied.
Some days after…
“What have you done?” The toy Camila had bought for Rocky screeched as his fist tightened around it.
Isaac sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I couldn’t take his incessant barking anymore, Cam. It was driving me crazy. Besides, it’s part of your old life with Harry. I dropped him off at the animal shelter, so I’m sure they’ve taken him in already. Maybe even already.” have adopted it.”
“I can not believe it”. Camila turned around and put her coat back on.
“Where are you going?” Isaac put his hand on her shoulder.
“I’m going to look for my dog!” Camila shrugged and glared at him.
“I don’t care how much he barks; you had no right to abandon him. Rocky and I came in the same package. I’m not coming back here until I find him, and if you ever do anything to my dog again, Isaac, I’m leaving you.”
Isaac looked at her in disbelief. “You can’t be serious. You and I can have our own dog.”
“Pets aren’t replaceable! Rocky’s coming home, and if you can’t handle that, then we’ll make our home somewhere else without you. Don’t make that decision on me, Isaac.”
Camila drove for hours through the streets surrounding the animal shelter. From time to time, she would stop to show people pictures of Rocky and ask if they had seen him. The answer was always no.
After talking to a store owner, Camila got back in the car and broke down in tears. She was beginning to doubt that she would ever find Rocky.
“Harry, if you can hear me, help me find him,” he prayed. “Guide me to where he is and keep our son safe until he arrives.”
Camila snorted and wiped her eyes. She put her hands on the wheel, but she didn’t know where to go. She didn’t feel anything that it might be Harry leading her, so she drove around randomly until she was lost.
Rocky’s cold nose pressed into her face as darkness surrounded Camila. She kept barking, but now she seemed to come from afar.
Now it was dark. Beyond the orange glow of the streetlights, a few stars twinkled through the clouds. Camila stopped at a twenty-four-hour diner for a decaf and a donut. A familiar bark stopped her in her tracks as she walked back to the car.
“Rockie!” Camila knelt down and hugged her dog. “Who’s my good boy? I’m so sorry, Rocky, but I promise you this won’t happen again.”
“Will you ever forgive me, Cam?” Isaac gave her a pleading look from behind an enormous bouquet of flowers that he had brought her the next day. “It was an impulsive mistake.”
“I can’t do this now.” Camila winced as she felt another sharp pain in her lower back.
Rocky spun in a circle in front of her and barked.
“I’m not going to play with you now, boy.” Camila shifted in her seat, but her attempt to find a more comfortable position caused her more pain.
“Isaac, I think something is wrong.”
Isaac ran to Camila’s side. He helped her into her car and took her to the doctor.
“Everything seems normal,” Camila’s doctor said. “I suggest you get as much rest as possible. If you’re still in pain, we can talk about doing some tests.”
“I guess I can do it.” Camila rubbed the small of her back with one hand. “Lately I feel quite tired and weak.”
Camila couldn’t get comfortable. No matter how she lay on the bed, something was bothering her. If it wasn’t her lower back pain, it was her normal pregnancy discomfort that bothered her: a kick in the bladder or shortness of breath.
Rocky climbed on the bed with her and refused to get off. He booed her hip and barked at her tummy.
“This baby is going to speak the language of dogs very well,” Camila murmured. She rubbed at Rocky’s soft fur, but he wasn’t distracted by her nudges and barks.
“I wish I understood you, Rocky.” Camila turned on her side to look at the dog. “I feel like you’re trying to tell me something.”
It quickly became apparent that the rest was not helping Camila. Friends and family who came to visit her commented on her sallow appearance.
“Maybe I need to give it more time,” Camila replied when her sister urged her to go back to the doctor. “Dr. Smith was highly recommended to me. I’m sure he knows what he’s talking about.”
His sister shook her head. “Yeah, sure a gray-haired man knows a lot about women’s bodies. Please, Cam, make an appointment with my gynecologist. She’s amazing.”
But Camila was reluctant to change doctors at this point in her pregnancy. She kept going until the day she collapsed.
Early one morning, Camila was going to the supermarket for milk when Rocky stood in front of her and started barking at her tummy. She grabbed his collar to pull him away, but he didn’t move.
“Come on, Rocky. I’m just going to the store.” She pointed toward the living room. “To the cage, Rocky.”
The dog whimpered, but he ignored it.
“You’ve become very naughty since I got pregnant,” Camila scolded him. “So much barking and climbing on furniture.” She tugged at her collar to bring him to her cage, but then her pain pierced the small of her back like a hot needle.
Camila fell to her knees. Rocky was there, her body pressed against his, helping her stay upright. She whimpered as she licked his face and then began to bark brokenly.
“I guess you were right, Rocky.” Camila slowly bent to the ground. Black dots dotted her vision and she felt light-headed. “I should have trusted you.”
Rocky’s cold nose pressed against her face as the darkness closed in around Camila. She kept barking, but now she seemed to come from afar.
“Thank God you’re awake!”
Harry? Camila rubbed her eyes and looked back at the man standing next to her. No, it was Isaac. Of course it was Isaac. Why had she thought it was Harry? She had been dreaming… She glanced around the room, and all the lingering weariness drained from her brain as she became aware of her surroundings.
“You passed out and I took you to the hospital.” Isaac took her hand and answered her question before he could ask it. “The doctors are running tests to find out what’s wrong with you.”
“Rocky knew it.” Camila tried to get up but realized that she had no strength.
“I think so,” Isaac frowned. “He Came and he pulled me out of bed. I thought he had gone crazy, but then he led me to you.”
An hour later, Dr. Smith came into the room with the test results.
“He has a kidney infection,” Dr. Smith said. “It didn’t show up in the initial urine sample I took from you, but the blood cultures confirm that you have high levels of bacteria in your body. We’re going to start a course of antibiotics immediately.”
Camila soon recovered from the infection. When the hospital released her and she came home, Rocky started behaving like her before.
“I don’t get it,” Camila was saying when she called Harry’s brother, who had given Rocky and Harry as puppies.
“How could he know?”
“German Shepherds are trail dogs,” Harry’s brother replied. “Some are trained to sniff out bacteria, so maybe it picked up something the doctors didn’t. It’s not uncommon for dogs to pick up illnesses in their owners.”
“I suppose it’s possible.” Camila reached down to pat Rocky’s head. “He has always liked to play find things.”
A month later, Camila gave birth to a healthy girl. She was perfect in every way. When Camila and Isaac brought her home from the hospital, the first thing she did with her was introduce Lily to Rocky.
“Have I ever told you how sorry I am that I misjudged Rocky?” Isaac asked as Rocky rocked the baby. “Without him…well, I might have lost them both.”
“Rocky and I accept your apology,” Camila replied.
What can we learn from this story?
Trust your pets if they start acting strange. Animals have sharper senses than ours and detect things we don’t. Camila could have recovered sooner if she had trusted Rocky and herself.
Never give up your pets because your partner demands it . Pets are a lifelong commitment; like children, they depend on us for their care. It is cruel and unfair to abandon a loyal pet because it makes someone else uncomfortable.
Share this story with your friends. Maybe it will brighten your day and inspire you.