I didn't need another dog. I had Mario, by 8 year old rescued BC who'd been my best friend for the previous two years and we were doing great. We'd gotten his CGC in August and were plenty busy with agility, tracking, rally obedience, and formal obedience. I was putting bits of money here and there into the puppy fund, excited for the day when I had my Red Top BC pup who would take me up the ranks of USBCHA herding, fulfilling my dream of being an open level handler.
But I guess that dream would have to be pushed back a few years. In my frequent visits to a Border Collie Rescue Forum, petfinder, and various breed specific rescues I'd seen literally hundreds of BCs. After working with a variety of them myself, seeing a variety of types, and spending two years with a BC of my own, I knew pretty much exactly what I was looking for. So it was no surprise that when I saw Willow (then "Sally") I was smitten. She was exactly what I was looking for in a rescue BC and while it was likely she wouldn't be the stock dog I was looking for, that was perfectly fine with me.
The only problem? "Sally" was almost 5 and a half hours away in KY. Was I willing to make that drive? Apparently yes! I filled out all of the paper work and was quickly approved for adoption. A good friend of mine offered to go with me, so the weekend after thanksgiving we loaded up the two of us, Mario, my friend's puppy, and my parent's dog (whom I was dog-sitting) into my less than roomy '99 Toyota Camry and hit the road.
The ride down was fairly smooth...until we hit Ownsboro. We spent probably a good 20 minutes being lost downtown getting caught on one way streets and circling through the city three or four times. We finally found the shelter and waited another half hour or so for the adoption counselor to arrive. I refilled out the paper work I had submitted online (oh the joys of broken printers) and finally got to go meet my girl.
The dogs were in outdoor, covered runs to keep them away from the elements. With the cold the floors were lined with straw, and "Sally" had worn a path in it pacing up and down her kennel's wall. She had come in with her sister, and her sister's kennel was empty. She had been adopted only an hour before "Sally" and was already on her way to her new home. It was obvious that "Sally" was still worked up over the disappearance of her sister, however she raced to the cage door when she saw me approach with one of the volunteers. She was gorgeous!
Check in to read part II! (photo taken by Ownensboro Humane Society)
No comments:
Post a Comment