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Hnexcerpt 052225

The document describes the joy and transformation of a golden retriever named Tina, who, after being rescued from a life of confinement, discovers her love for tennis balls. The author shares a heartfelt experience of surprising Tina with a hundred tennis balls, which brings her immense happiness and a sense of freedom. This moment highlights the importance of companionship and joy in the lives of rescued animals, emphasizing that small acts of kindness can create lasting memories and happiness.

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Here & Now
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3K views3 pages

Hnexcerpt 052225

The document describes the joy and transformation of a golden retriever named Tina, who, after being rescued from a life of confinement, discovers her love for tennis balls. The author shares a heartfelt experience of surprising Tina with a hundred tennis balls, which brings her immense happiness and a sense of freedom. This moment highlights the importance of companionship and joy in the lives of rescued animals, emphasizing that small acts of kindness can create lasting memories and happiness.

Uploaded by

Here & Now
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TINA

Helping the dogs is quite taxing mentally so I always


have my head racing with little fun ideas to not only please
the dogs but to put a smile on us humans’ faces also. I’d
seen Tina starting to love tennis balls which was a real
delight for me after she had been tied up on the chain for
so long. Here was a golden retriever doing what she should
have been doing her whole life which was just chasing a
ball and bringing it back to her human friend.
Although she was still thin and recovering I could see
her face absolutely light up when I brought the ball out.
We all see that with our dogs from sticks or mentioning a
walk or treat – there is always something that will trigger a
burst of pure joy from our dogs. The sight of the tennis
ball to Tina was like winning the lottery.
But I am not entirely sure that Tina knew what tennis
balls were the first time she saw one – she really liked
them, but I did wonder if anyone had ever played with her.
As soon as she got the smell and the taste and feel of their
squishiness in her mouth, well, she could not leave those
round yellow things out of her sight.
Honest to God, she’d walk around all day long with one
in her mouth beside me, as if so proud of it and never
wanting to let it go. Yes, often they’d be plenty of drool
and you’d be throwing it back all wet in your hand as every
dog owner knows. But it was a joy to see.
I was driving one Sunday when I thought, ‘Imagine if I
could get Tina a hundred tennis balls, how happy she



Tina.indd 80 05/02/2025 12:11


NIALL HARBISON

would be!’ Then I thought about how I could give them to


her as a surprise.
That’s how after a couple of hours’ planning I ended up
buying all the supplies to make her dreams come true. A
couple of people were helping me that afternoon walk the
dogs and they thought I had absolutely lost my mind as I
climbed a tree with a hundred tennis balls in a large green
washing basket. Tina had been distracted off to one side. I
was about ten feet up in the air and one wrong move
would have seen me fall and break my back, but I knew
this was worth it.
Tina wandered towards the tree and at just the right
moment I was able to release the one hundred tennis balls
down around her. It must have felt like the greatest day of
her life as the skies opened with her favourite things ever.
She ran from ball to ball for hours, sniffing and playing
with them and bringing them back to me with a look of
utter bewilderment mixed with unbridled joy. She kept
running around greedily trying to pick up two at a time
before moving on to the next one and then the next one.
She’d bring them over to me so proudly, dropping them all
soggy at my feet, as if desperate to show them to me. Look,
Niall, there’s been a tennis ball miracle, isn’t it amazing!
Eventually, after about two hours (yes two hours) she lay
down among those tennis balls and fell sound asleep.
Probably dreaming of them. Exhausted from exhilaration.
All I could think about was how she had been on that chain



Tina.indd 81 05/02/2025 12:11


TINA

a few weeks earlier with misery etched on her face … and


now here she was with a dream coming true.
I realised then that it wasn’t just the physical tennis balls
that she loved. It was the fact that she had someone to
share them with. That thought can still make me well up,
to be honest.
Some people might look at a little stunt like that and
wonder how it helps with my mission to save street dogs.
How does spending two hours like that, climbing a tree and
creating a fleeting moment for one dog, help end suffering?
The answer is that it absolutely does because it brings out
the child in me, it makes Tina have a memory she’d never
forget and it helps put a smile on many people’s faces. In a
life that can be so tough with bad news and doom and
gloom, we all need moments where the sky reigns with
tennis balls to spur us on. When I’m lying on my own
deathbed taking my last breaths, I won’t be thinking about
the new iPhone I once had or the fancy pair of designer
shoes I once owned. I’ll be thinking about Tina and her face
as she was running from tennis ball to tennis ball.
But the special moments with Tina didn’t always involve
events or funny things captured on social media; it was in
all the small, day-to-day dog chores (of which there are
many in this funny old life of mine) when the golden
retriever’s heart and soul really shone through.
Tina followed me everywhere, she was always within
about two feet of wherever I was.



Tina.indd 82 05/02/2025 12:11

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