By Cathirose Petrone

He appeared one morning, skinny as skinny can be, even for a Bali dog. The moment he saw me looking at him, he bolted, head down and tail between his legs. For about a week, he would be there in the morning when I awoke. Slowly he allowed me to open the sliding doors of my home without running away, as long as I did not look at him. Then, he came a bit closer me as I nonchalantly began to go about my morning business. What to do with this beautiful spirit? He had entered my heart.

Thankfully, I was able to elicit the help of Marco Adda, who brilliantly and patiently educated me on how to respectfully and skillfully begin the process of creating a dog-human relationship. First priority was to put out water and food for this sweet little one, not only to provide much-needed sustenance, but also to let him know he could always safely find these basic necessities at my home. As Marco predicted, the guy was quickly as hooked as I was.

Soon after knowing that water and food were to be found every day in the same place, Arnold spent more and more time at my home. With the assistance of Marco, who modeled how to stand, sit, and behave around Arnold (yes, I was the one going through “training”), things started to shift between me and my new friend. Within a short time, Arnold began to sit near me, and soon thereafter, even take a snooze very close by. Each of these seemingly small steps was huge for both of us.

The next giant leap came soon thereafter, although leap is a misnomer as it was more like a crawl. How to touch Arnold, who just a mere couple of weeks ago ran for the hills just from eye contact. Not only did I desire to make physical contact (as I suspected he did as well despite a clear ambivalence), but this was necessary if I were to care for his health. Once again, Marco, and the always enticing food, to the rescue. The goal was to have Arnold eat out of my hand, and this is how it went…one small kibble placed near my foot, one small kibble placed between my toes, a few kibbles placed on my foot, a few kibbles placed on my leg. A bit reluctant, but unable to resist, Arnold quickly ate the kibble and each time he did so, he jumped back. Slowly, slowly until finally the kibble was placed in the palm of my hand. This is where it gets really interesting. As Marco explained, and obvious after the explanation, not only was Arnold now reacting to his instinctual drive for food, but he was considering, dare I say weighing, his decision. Hmmm…I want the food, but is it safe? Well, I guess the benefits outweighed the risks since he indeed decided to eat out of my hand. Oh, and what a thrill for me to feel his wet nose on my skin! I will never forget that feeling.

As I reflect upon all of this, it makes me think about why Arnold entered my life. Surely, it was no coincidence that he showed up when he did. There are the obvious reasons from his side of the story, a safe place to lay his head and with some luck, food to fill his belly. But what about the not so obvious reasons? According to a young Balinese man in the neighborhood, Arnold came as a messenger from Mocha Chai, my beloved chocolate Labrador retriever of almost 16 years who officially got her angel wings a year and a half before. Mocha Chai lives with me both in the form of her ashes as well as in her eternal soul and love. The young man, a dog lover as well, told me that he felt it was time to release Mocha’s spirit to her next life and that Arnold would assist me in doing so. Maybe so, especially from a Balinese perspective.

For me, though, what I am considering is the meaning of the word “home.” Having moved to Bali with only a few suitcases of possessions, having given away or sold just about everything else I owned, home certainly is not about things or necessarily a geographical location. We can undoubtedly carry our home in our heart wherever we may be, but isn’t the feeling of home about connection and relationship? Isn’t home a place where we feel the comfort of the familiar, the comfort of family? So maybe this is why Arnold entered my life, to help create a home for both of us. I do know that despite the wonderment of the unfamiliar in my life in Bali, I had been missing the familiar. Maybe Arnold had been as well.