October 20, 2005

I always seem to be writing about the sad days in my life lately, so today I'm going to write about one of the happiest days. But, before you get too excited, this happy post will start with a bit of sadness.

Three years ago, on September 20th, we had to put our beloved border collie Sarah to sleep. Her legs had gotten so bad that she just couldn't move any longer. At this point, we had probably kept her alive three months longer than we should have but we just couldn't come to grips with letting her go. That morning, I tried to lift her to get her outside and she just looked at me and barked. She had never done this before and I knew at that moment she was telling me she just couldn't do it anymore. I immediately called the vet who said to bring her in right away and, in the next hour she was gone.


I remember telling my family that I didn't want another dog and not to surprise me with one either because there could be no dog in the world who could be as wonderful as Sarah. This lasted all of a week. I was so lonely without her and couldn't stand looking around my house and not seeing her there. By the end of that week, I made a visit to our local pound thinking I might find a dog who needed me. It was an unsuccessful visit. That same evening, I was on the Internet, and typed these words into Google....Border Collie Adoption.....and this is what came up.

Belle's Web Page

Hello I am Belle,a three year old Border Collie. I am spayed female. I am good with other dogs, however I am a little shy. It takes me a little time to warm up to people. My old family had too many dogs to spend much time with me. I am looking for a family and a big yard. Can you help a girl out who is down on her luck? Belle has a thick, full coat and will require frequent at-home grooming to keep her looking and feeling her best. She is an escape artist and will require a home with a secure fence OVER 4 feet in height. Belle is being fostered in Lebanon, PA. She has several applications in process already. Other applications will be considered if those do not work out. Please check out some of the other wonderful dogs at Castaway Critters!

This is what it should have said....

I am good with other dogs, however I am a little shy. It takes me a little time to warm up to people because I am used to them beating me. My old family hated me so they brought me to the pound so I could be put to sleep.

As soon as I saw this picture, I just knew I had to have her. And then reading the line that said, "Can you help a girl out who is down on her luck?".....of course I could. But little did I know that my wanting her and my getting her was not as easy as my just saying "yes". There were already a number of applications in for this dog. Mine would be just one of many. And each application included references. I found out later that one of my references told them that "if they believed in reincarnation, in their next life they wanted to come back as my dog." That comment certainly helped but wasn't enough to seal the deal.

I then decided to make a trip to Lebanon, PA to meet Belle. Just to make sure I covered all my bases, I brought two friends with me thinking that if the foster mother didn't like me, she would certainly like one of my friends. At one point, my girlfriend Pat told the lady to just give it up, put the dog in my car and let us leave because they couldn't live with me any longer if I didn't get this dog. Of course, she wouldn't do that so we drove home without Belle.

I have to admit to having some misgivings after this meeting. She was definitely socially inept and afraid of her own shadow. She had been so badly abused and it was going to take a lot to get her out of her shell. Also, her tail was broken so she would never be able to wag it. Someone had swung her around as a puppy and broke it......and then had the nerve to brag about it. I decided then and there that if it was meant to be, it would happen and I wouldn't pursue it any further just in case I ended up with a dog that couldn't fill Sarah's paws.

A week later, I received a phone call from someone who wanted to come to my home to see if it was suitable for the dog. This was something they did with all of the applicants. The woman sat at my kitchen table and filled out the form while I was sitting there. One of the questions was.....will the dog be happy there? She wrote out her response and read it to me after writing it. She said, "Not only would the dog be happy here, I also would like to move in." I think that was what sealed the deal. A week later they called me to tell me Belle was mine and the next day I drove to pick her up.

I'm not going to say the first few weeks or even months were easy because they weren't. This was a dog who was afraid of her own shadow. It was so sad. She wouldn't bark, wouldn't walk on the wood floor, wouldn't take food out of our hands......basically, she wouldn't do anything a normal dog would do. Apparently she had never been a pet. She had just been another dog on a farm that people didn't want. I called the pound she had come from after I got her and asked them if she had a name when she was dropped off. This was a pound in West Virginia. They said, "Yeah, she had a name. It was Dog." That told me all I needed to know. I also found out, during that call, that she was one day away from being euthanized when she was rescued.

Well, now it's three years later and Belle is still here. She now barks, still doesn't like to walk on wood floors, will definitely take anything we offer her from our hands and is basically the most lovable dog and clearly one of the most beautiful border collies I have every seen. She still has so many emotional scars from her former life and sometimes I look at her and just wonder what it had been like for her.

But now she lives in the lap of dog luxury and is loved by everyone in this family. Sarah had always been "my" dog. Belle is all of ours. We're so in tune to what she must have gone through that we all treat her with kid gloves and are very cognizant of her needs. The only one who likes to tease her is FSIL Bryan but he loves her just as much as we all do.

So on this, her three year anniversary with us, I'd like to thank Castaway Critters in Mechanicsburg, PA for rescuing Belle from the West Virginia pound. As the owner of this place told me afterwards, he was there to pick up two other dogs for rescue. He passed her cage and he said her eyes just looked at him and said, "please help me" and he did. I often wonder how a beautiful animal like this could ever have been put to sleep and I'm so thankful she was saved.

This is one of the many endearing things that Belle does. She crosses her paws when she is lying down. She's such a lady.

I look at every day with this dog as a miracle. She is beyond special to us. She is our Belle and, in the upcoming holiday months, will be referred to as "Jingle" Belle.