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Madison Palm has always known her dog Cora is special. It's why she's having Cora trained and certified as a therapy dog; it's why she always travels with her.
"She is very empathetic and in tune with my needs, yet she is so incredibly independent," Palm told TODAY.
The 23-year-old was still surprised, and deeply moved, by something Cora did when the two were recently flying from their home in Idaho to Alaska to visit Palm's mother.
On a layover at the Seattle airport, Cora approached a man who was sitting by himself near their gate.
"Before I could even call her she was already at his feet being loved on. I asked him if she was bothering him," Palm said. "And with a somber face and watery eyes he said, 'No, no. I lost my dog last night.'"
Palm was deeply moved that her dog Cora seemed to know just who needed her attention. @the.corgi.cora
Cora stayed with the man for a little while. Palm, who lives in Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho, recalls the man scratched behind Cora's ears, petted her and whispered to her about how cute she is. It was a profoundly emotional encounter to witness.
"I truly think she has a gift. She knows who is hurting and she knows who needs her," she said. "Once he told me that his dog passed away I looked at Cora and I thought to myself, 'You are so amazing. How did I get so lucky?'"
"Totally the kind of dog she is — she will walk up to a crying child and try to lick them and rub her head on them. She lives for making people happy again," Palm said of Cora. @the.corgi.cora
This is how: Cora has lived with Palm since last summer. Palm, who is a deputy assessor title clerk at her county's Department of Motor Vehicles, was in the break room at work. A co-worker was browsing Facebook on her phone and told Palm she'd seen a post about a corgi who was killing a family's chickens and was therefore being given away to the first person who came for her.
Palm left work right away to meet the dog. She learned the dog was underfed and had been kept outside for nearly her whole life. She'd had many litters of puppies.
"Cora had never been to a vet," Palm said. "She didn’t have a cute collar or a shiny tag with her name on it. The little food that she received was her owners' scraps, which were thrown into the yard for her."
Palm already had another dog and knew her landlord wouldn't allow two. She'd have to find a new place to live if she took in Cora, but Palm felt she couldn't leave the dog behind.
On the drive home, Cora crawled into Palm's lap "and she never looked back," Palm said.
"Cora has taught me the true meaning of unconditional love and forgiveness in a way that no person could have explained," said Palm. @the.corgi.cora
Cora's ears were infected, her teeth were rotted and the water turned black when she got her first bath. But her personality was, and is, sweet and loving.
"She just wants to be loved on and held all day long," said Palm. "She is always right next to me and always keeps a close eye if she’s not. If I’m not available she’ll pick the next closest lap to sit in."
They found a new place to live. The dogs both like it; they've got a yard.
Cora, who is becoming a therapy dog through the American Kennel Club's canine good citizen program, is a great comfort to Palm. She helps her with anxiety. Palm says Cora "helps me stay calm in chaos."
Cora celebrated her 8th birthday on Nov. 1. Palm gave Cora "the canned version of her dog food and tried to make a little cake for her with a candle that said 8," she said. @the.corgi.cora
It had been seven months of feeling amazed by Cora's capacity for forgiveness and for love. Then Cora reached out to this grieving stranger in an airport, and Palm was astonished all over again by this dog, who early in her life wasn't given a lot of reasons to trust or even like humans, but still does.
"I am blown away by her on a daily basis. Who knew a dog who was unloved for 7 1/2 years could have so much love to give?" Palm said. "I can’t change her past but I’m doing everything I can to make up for it."
phin3asgag3 on February 22nd, 2018 at 13:39 UTC »
This post will probably get buried since it's on the front page, but this article just brought back the coolest other peoples dog story I've experienced; bonus points was it happened in Idaho too.
I used to be an auditor for a national electrical supply company and had to travel quite often. The perks of this were that I'm a huge beer geek and I got to sample a lot of local beers in a lot of areas I wouldn't normally go. The downside was that I had to leave my yellow lab, Lucy, with my parents for months at a time. One trip consisted of being gone for 6 weeks and during that time Lucy got sick and went to the vet. The vet found that her bladder was full of cancer and she was having pain and incontinence issues, the vet told my parents that it was an inoperable amount of disease. My parents sugar coated it over the phone at first but dropped the bomb that my dog was at the age and sickness level that we needed to make "the plans." What they didn't tell me at that time was that Lucy was already scheduled and would be "planned" prior to my getting back from my work trip. So in the end my Lucy passed before I had the chance to say goodbye.
One trip I was up in Sandpoint, ID at an awesome little brewery (Laughing Dog Brewing) with a co-worker and felt a nudge at my side. It was a beautiful yellow labs with very familiar coloring (that almost bleached look instead of the more blonde coloring) and I instinctually just patted this dogs head and said "hey Lucy" and kept on with the conversation. The owner of this dog comes up apologizing and stating, "Lucy is normally a good listener but she just took off as soon as we got in the door. I hope she didn't bother you." This struck me like a 10-ton hammer and I asked her to repeat what she said. I instantly had to choke back tears as I explained that this wasn't a bother and in fact was awesome. I told her about how my dog, of the same breed/name/coloring, had passed about a year ago and I never got to say goodbye. The lady just responded something to the effect of her Lucy knowing I was someone special and offered me her leash to go walk around and "get your love" from Lucy. This was the moment that I really realized that dogs are really something special.
TLDR: My awesome dog had to get put down while I was on a work trip. About a year later "my" dog ran up to me and let me finally get my closure.
ps: pardon any grammar issues, I've yet to have my coffee and i'm fighting back tears in my office as I typed this.
Rosiebelleann on February 22nd, 2018 at 13:13 UTC »
At my late daughter's funeral her service dog, who was clearly in mourning, greeted each mourner and was comforted by and comforted each person who arrived. Edit: Sometimes on Reddit you wonder about people but not today. I turned my phone back on after the gym to see an outpouring of love from complete strangers. The dog is with me and she has pretty bad arthritis in her back legs but is still the smartest and most affectionate dog I have ever known. I sometimes felt after my daughter's death that the only thing that made me leave the house was that the dog needed walking. Thank you all for your kindness. EDIT 2 To the person who gave me reddit gold. Thank you so much. I am overwhelmed by all the kind messages.
biggerdonger on February 22nd, 2018 at 11:11 UTC »
Dogs are such wonderful creatures no matter the breed. But some dogs are angels on earth. It's like their only purpose is to comfort humans and make them feel loved.