It was love at first sight. The moment our eyes met, I was totally hooked and I knew that I wasn’t leaving without him. I never once regretted that decision and he continues to bring joy to my life every day. So much, in fact, that I have expanded my family - all because of him, my three-year-old Border Collie, Beemer.

I was working with disabled adults at the time and had just taken one of my favorite ladies shopping for her groceries. On the way back to her home, she reminded me of my earlier promise to stop and see the “doggies and kitties” (as she called them) at the local Animal Shelter. Tired, and driving in the opposite direction of the shelter already, I tried to talk her into going the next time we were together.

It surprised me when this usually agreeable woman wouldn’t settle for that and insisted that we had to go at that time. It occurred to me that she might be going through a rough period and needed to feel the love of a furry friend, so I gave her a smile and pulled into the nearest gas station to turn the car around. Visiting the animals would leave us all in better spirits - and I was definitely for that.

The shelter is a beautiful modern, clean facility. Only a few years old, this shelter was a gift to this small rural town from a wealthy animal lover that had lived in Philadelphia, PA. When she passed away, included in her bequests was a large amount of money to rebuild and maintain the two animal shelters in the state of Pennsylvania that were in the worst condition (at the time of her death), due to lack of funds. The shelter we visited - a good four hour drive from Philly - was one of the two.

As bright, clean, and welcoming as this new shelter was, it filled me with sadness that the Cat Room and Dog Kennels were filled almost to capacity. I do want to note that this particular shelter has a higher than 70% rate of adopting out animals, one of the best in the state.

My companion wandered into the Cat Room. Here you can open the cage doors and take out a cat or kitten to hold and pet - and if you’re both lucky enough, adopt it as a new member of your family. I was on my way to the room with the Dog Kennels when I detoured to the Puppy Room. It was always empty whenever I had been there before, puppies being desirable adoptions. Still, my routine was to walk in, look around at the empty cages and move on to the next area.

I opened the glass door and looked right at the most gorgeous puppy I had ever seen. He was the only pup in there.  As I walked into that room, I knew I was leaving with him, and I knew that he knew it too. Period. Never mind the the facts of not having owned a dog in years, that a dog was not low maintenance and I had a busy life, and that I already lived with an older Siamese and a lovable-but- grumpy “no more animals” housemate at the time.

I was told that he was about 12 weeks old and had been found wandering down a busy main county route, trying to heard cars,  on a cold, rainy September day, near an area known for breeding and training border collies. The pup had been the only puppy at the shelter for ten days when I saw him. Interestingly enough, even though puppies went quick and people gave him a look, nobody asked about adopting him. Nor did any calls come in asking about a lost Border Collie pup. Shelter staff thought he was such a good pup and so pretty that they were going to feature him in the next newspaper campaign.

When I took him out of the cage, he jumped up, wagging his tail wildly. It was almost as if he had been waiting there especially for me to arrive. He was great on the leash and when I tried a few hand commands, he obeyed. This was a dog that had either started some type of training or had been exposed to it. When my companion came over to see the pup, he greeted her warmly and offered a paw. That was the clincher (as if I needed one). I bought one of the collars and a leash that they sell at the shelter and filled out the paperwork. Since I was known in the community, a background check went quickly, and I was able to take him with us. I dropped off my delighted lady.  Then it hit me. I’d just had a baby and it was completely unexpected!

©2007 Barbara Dolny

Photo of Beemer by Barbara Dolny

**This story to be continued in another post**

OCTOBER is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog-Month! (of course, any time is a good time to give a pet a home!).

Visit your local shelter or go to www.aspca.org