It was a brutally cold November day when a female Border Collie showed up in my yard with a pup in tow. The pup was fat and sassy, but the mom was closed to starving. When I brought out the leftover meatloaf, she wouldn't touch it until the pup could eat no more. I couldn't get them to come in the house or the shop, so I made a windbreak by the door and put a thick blanket under it. She was still there the next day, and she let me know I had been adopted.Then they disappeared. I was really sad.
Two days later, they were back, and I knew I had a friend for life. We put up posters and asked everyone we saw if they knew who she belonged to. They said they belonged to an elderly alcoholic who had been hauled off to detox...and we were told to keep her, as she would have a much better life with us. He had left her and her litter penned up when he was taken away. Mom and her pup were the only ones who survived.
One day, the older man drove by and stopped to talk. Mom dog, named Gypsy now, hid in the dog house and shook uncontrollably until he drove away. She has been my constant companion ever since. I was an orphan, but she never will be. She comes first. Always will. Best dog I have ever been owned by.
Jacksonville, NC
