One Left - One Came

We had our lovely little girl, Foxie, for 14 years. She came to live with us strictly by accident. I came home from doing some chores one afternoon to discover a cardboard box. It was closed up, with the endflaps wedged shut. My old dog, Regal, was barking at it and I went to see what it was. Well, inside was a wet, woebegone, bedraggles little black and brown puppy. That puppy soon became our Foxie lady. Every day of her life, after she was ours, was filled with love for her. She was in our hearts to stay forever.

However, there came the time when we finally had to say our sad goodbyes to her happy (but graying) face. Her health had deteriorated and the vet sadly said it was time. And so we said goodbye.

But to my way of thinking, a home is not a home without a dog in it. So two days after our farewell, I was at the local Humane Society talking to the animals to the animals there who needed to be loved as badly as I needed to give love. One little guy in the corner kennel caught my eye. He was in there alone, and very depressed acting. He obviously wasn't happy with his surroundings. Stooping down to talk to him I thought to myself - this little guy doesn't meet your criteria Lillian Ann. I'd set out to find a short hair dog, a female, a small dog, and an older dog. This fellow was none of that.

The card his previous owner had filled out stated he was untrainable, not house broken, aggressive, a nipper and biter, and had been kept in the bathroom all day while owners worked, walked twice a day and lived in an apartment. After reading all this negativity, I thought to myself, there's nothing here that time and training won't cure.We discovered he was a border collie mix, 4 1/2 months old. He came home with us.

He was already named Gary, so we just kept his name, thinking he had enough adjustment to make without worrying about a new name. As soon as he learned that he door in the kitchen led to the garage which led outside, he was housebroken - about 60 minutes time. He ran and played in the backyard until I thought he was going to faint. He chased balls, toys, lizards and squirrels along the top of the fence. He was enrolled in puppy kindergarten, and socialized, socialized, socialized. He was taught that good puppies don't bite and nip hands, feet and ankles when they play. Chew toys, Kongs, and stuffed puppy toys are great fun to chew, and when you play and chew them, you get clicks and treats.

One year later, my little mischievious puppy has turned into a marvelously well behaved dog. He's a real eager beaver when it come to learning new things. We go to the dog park and he runs and plays with his friends for two hours every evening.

He's a very special boy, and he has a very special in his Mom and Dad's heart. We still miss our Foxie girl, we still love our Foxie girl, just as we still miss and love all our other dogs before her. Gary has not filled the empty spot she left. He's done something, better, more important. He's created his own spot in our hearts. He's accepted the love we have to offer and give us more love and pleasure every day we have him with us. He is truly love in a big golden, fur wrapped, red tongue, brown eyed package.

- Thanks to Lillian Mount for sharing Gary and Foxie's story.