Ellie...

In January or February of 2007 I was at the vet's office with Daisy and he said "did I see Daisy at the pound the other day? There was one there that looks just like her." I almost doubled over laughing - riiiiiiiiight,,,one of my dogs at the pound and unrescued to boot. Well we finished our visit and the whole time he was telling me about this dog, "she looks just like Daisy, she's fixed, they're about the same age." I think he was setting me up because he knew how much we love German Shepherd's and that we'd just lost Buddy the previous year from a mass in his stomach. You've seen Buddy, he's the black German Shepherd in the "puppy story." Anyway, I couldn't get the dog off my mind, I kept looking at Daisy and thinking about her. For the next part of this adventure my partner in crime was my sister-in-law, she's the best. She and my brother have a very nice pack of their own. We've dog sat for them so their just like family - well they are family. Anyway,,,sis-in-law, Daisy and I go down to the local animal rescue. We wanted to check her out and walk her with Daisy to see how things would go. Of course they were fine.......there.

She loved being at our house and we loved her. She was smart and learned quickly, so we taught her the basic obedience commands. She never quite got along in the pack, though, and the pack was always a little on edge when she was in it. She was easily excitable and quite jealous. She wanted to be the alpha in the pack and that is not allowed, JP and I are the alphas. With JP on the road truck driving during this period, I was a little nervous when fights would break out because she was a strong dog. It also wasn't fair to Daisy, who gets along peacefully with other dogs and doesn't start any fights, but will defend herself. One day JP was home for the weekend, and suddenly poor Ellie began to have a seizure, her tail went into the fireplace, which was lit at the time. JP quickly moved her away from the fireplace and we moved the rest of the pack outside to allow her to finish and come out of it. We took her to the vet and he told us some dogs were just prone to seizures, that she may have another one or may never have another one and as long as she came out of it okay we should just watch her and protect her while she's defenseless. After talking about it and considering the whole situation with the pack tension and Ellie's drive to be the alpha, we came to the conclusion that it would be best for Ellie and the rest of the group if she were in a one dog home.

So I got online and found a local person that ran a website that places pets needing a good home. I posted Ellie's picture and story, making sure to say that she should be the only dog in the home. We found the most wonderful home for her - She is queen of the castle! She has all four family members wrapped around her paw, she is very loved and we get regular updates. She was an answer to their prayers because their beloved previous dog had died just the prior summer. We were so happy, and a little proud, that we had been able to rescue a dog, teach it obedience and make her ready to be a loved member in a new home. This picture is of Ellie lounging on their bed. I just learned recently that she fetches the paper each morning and is just basically still loving life. It's so good when the stories have a happy ending - Hollywood take note.

Blessings from the holler yall.