I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier. In the ordinary course of our

everyday lives it's rare or at least it's relatively rare for me to hear something

that moves us deeply and sometimes this kind of profound emotion is inspired

by a very surprising or unexpected source. I had an experience like this recently related to a dog. I loved our miniature Schnauzer

patiwack when I was growing up and I love our cockapoo Barnumby now and I like

dogs generally. I was deeply moved by a line from a story that my friend journalist Sarah Lyle wrote for the New York Times when she was reporting on the

agility competition at the famous Westminster Kennel Club dog show.

She was writing about Miles, one of the dog competitors who is described as an all-American

dog, which is the American kennel club's name for

muts. The interesting thing about Miles was that he started as a virtually

unadoptable rescue dog and he now competes against the top agility dogs in the country.

The person who brought him to the show is Christine Longnecker.

She and Miles met at the Because You Care Animal

Shelter in Pennsylvania. Miles, who was known as Tank at the time, tended to

snarl, growl and snap at everyone at the shelter.

But when Christine Longnecker showed up, Miles walked quietly to the front of his kennel and

sat down.

The article quotes Longneard telling the story.

He looked me straight in the eye and said,

clear as day, I just want to be a good boy.

All of a sudden this overwhelming sadness watched over me, the sense of his not being able to prove himself because he had been told that he was a bad dog.

My heart broke into a million pieces.

...