A low flying UPO lights up my life

Today a low flying UPO swooped into my garden and lit me up. That’s an Unexpected Positive Occurrence, not an Unidentified Plying Object. I was just about to walk the dog – which since I started using an anti-pulling lead has been more like ‘sit the dog’ as he refuses to move when it’s on – when Bianca, the little girl across the road, spotted me at the gate.
‘Hi, Kaye,’ she called out in her sweet four year old voice.
‘Hi, Bianca,’ I called back. ‘I’m just walking Barney – do you want to come?’

Bianca has a special interest in Barney. He was originally her dog, until it became clear that keeping him in her family’s unfenced yard was going to be a logistical nightmare. I had suggested I take him on, as I have a fully fenced yard and it would mean Bianca could still see lots of him. Bianca had been very generous about her dog, saying 'Kaye I would like Barney to come and live with you and for you to be his new Mum'. So it seemed the ideal solution. Ideal until Barney went from being the sweet little dog he was at Bianca’s to being the bitey little beast he is at my place.

‘Careful Bianca,’ I warned her when she reached us. ‘He’s a bit bitey.’
But to my surprise Barney was completely docile with her. His tail went into overdrive as she kissed and petted him. I stood by protectively but Barney didn’t bite, jump or act aggressively in any way. Rather, in Bianca’s presence he became again the lovely little dog he used to be, affectionate and playful. It simply reinforced to me that his biting was due to something I was accidentally doing.

‘We could go to the park,’ Bianca suggested with a winsome look and smile. She loves going to the park and has a genius for getting what she wants. I suspect that’s how she got her puppy. Barney was actually walking now that Bianca was with us so I thought ‘why not?’ Once maternal permission was granted we piled into the car. At the park Bianca slid, hid, climbed on the monkey bars and generally had a ball. So did Barney, and to my surprise, so did I. Barney walked, played, licked our faces, sat on my lap and never once tried to bite. The anger and fear I sometimes felt towards him melted away as he became again the dog I liked in the presence of his little friend. ‘Barney is basically a good dog,’ I thought. ‘I just have to find a way of helping him be that good dog with me.’ I felt so grateful to Bianca for coming into our afternoon and lighting it up, for helping me to feel good about the dog again. It was a classic UPO – an Unexpected Positive Occurrence coming at me without warning out of a clear blue sky.

HAVE YOU HAD A UPO FLY INTO YOUR LIFE?

If so I'd love to hear about it - just post it using the 'comment' function below.