Dog Gone-it!

Life is crazy. It can't be pinned down. It is unpredictable and surprising despite all of our well-laid plans. I was reminded of that this past Memorial Day weekend.

My husband and I said good-bye to Poppet, our sweet border collie/beagle mix, one year ago. Cancer had started eating away at her eleven-year-old frame, which complicated already existing medical issues. As Poppet deteriorated, we knew her life had become a misery and made the difficult decision to let her go. To this day we cry at remembering her sweet disposition and funny antics. She was the best dog ever and will always be in our hearts.

Since then, we have toyed with the idea of adopting another dog, but things never seemed quite right. It was either the wrong dog, the wrong time, or the wrong motive. Yet, recently we were led to a stray border collie looking for a loving home. His story was sad. After someone rescued him off the streets in Alabama, he made his way to a local shelter there, and then to a foster home here in Wisconsin. No one could tell how long he had been on his own. They only knew he was nervous, afraid, painfully thin, and uncertain.

A call from someone who knew his story piqued our interest, so we took our cattle dog Sheela to met the mysterious stray from Alabama this past Memorial weekend. After spending only a short time together, the verdict was in. We loved his sweet disposition and one crystal-blue eye. It didn't take long to see he would was good match for Sheela, too. Things began falling into place and now, five days after our 'meet and greet', we have adopted another dog into our home. We named him Bowie.

I'm happy to report Bowie is doing well. He loves Sheela, he is house trained, and can do a few tricks. He has come out of his apprehensive shell and done quite a bit of romping in the backyard. Still, he is extremely thin and bears the wounds of a probable dog fight. He has a respiratory infection, dislikes cars, has patches of matted hair, and smells like fish when his fur is wet.

Despite his issues, we are confident Bowie is the perfect addition to our family. We love him and can see glimmers of our sweet Poppet in his mannerisms. He might well be our last dog. After all, neither me or my husband are young anymore. But life seemed to drop Bowie right into our laps. We couldn't say no. In our hearts we knew it was meant to be ..... welcome home, Bowie!