I'm A Teacher

Kind of blurry, forgot the flash. Junie snoozin'

At least today I was a teacher.  My mom took me outside to go to the bathroom after the kids got home from school.  There were a few kids outside that started running towards me.

Mom picked me up and when they asked if they could pet me she said, hold out your hand and let her decide.  Honestly, I didn't want anyone to pet me.  New people make me nervous.  I start to shake and mom can tell how I'm feeling.

She explained that I was nervous.  That before I came to their house people weren't very nice to me and that I was hurt a lot.  It takes me a bit to feel ok around new people.

One of the little boys said, does that mean she was bullied?

Mom looked at the little boy in amazement.  Exactly!  That is exactly what it means.  Junie was bullied by someone who was bigger than her, someone who liked to hurt her.  Animals don't like to be bullied any more than kids do.  You don't like to be bullied do you? All answered no.

Mom said then think about Junie when someone makes you mad.  Think about how she must have felt to have someone bigger than her picking on her and hurting her.  Think about that before you ever pick on anyone else.

Maybe they will, maybe they won't.  Hopefully it will stick with them though.  It usually disgusts and saddens decent people when they see my jaw and hear what happened to me.  (Not disgusted about my jaw, disgusted over how I was treated.  Mom said my jaw doesn't distract from my beautiful-ness at all, and I agree.)

That's what my story is here for.  To help animals and people.  To teach humans what happens to dogs like me and hope that it touches their heart and maybe changes the way they do things. (ie: bullying other kids in this case, not buying from pet stores that get their dogs from puppy mills, etc.)

Junie says to check out: Stop Bullying Bobby!: Helping Children Cope with Teasing and Bullying