BELLE

When we had laid our dear old Shep to rest, we said we would not replace him another dog. We would make do with our precious Frankie.

However, Frankie’s behaviour changed when she did not have her big brother, who was also her stand in for a flock of sheep. Now she had no one to herd and no one to run around in circles and figures of eight, in which she changed her speed to super warp, snapping close to his indifferent or sleeping nose on every lap.

She lay in her special place at the front edge of the settee in the living room, apparently disinterested in life in general, although she ate well, drank her normal amount, and continued to sleep on our bed for most of the night as usual.

Nevertheless, her daytime activities were severely curtailed. After chasing squirrels and jays, she would come back inside, flop down with a little grunt, and then lie still for hours, which was not the normal pattern of activity for a two year old atomic powered Border Collie.

Whereas she had often come to have me go outside to feed the deer, she began to take me outside when there were no deer coming to feed. Eventually it occurred to me that maybe she wanted to play. I went down on to the grass, and she started her Olympic leaping, nipping at my shirt, and running around me sometimes in wide looping runs and sometimes in tight circles, and clearly enjoying herself as she used me for a substitute for her absent, patient friend.

At my age and in my present condition, although I am remarkably preserved, running around on the grass being pursued by an industrious, occasionally ferocious, but always single minded, Border Collie soon makes me dizzy, breathless, and exhausted.

It soon became evident to me that she needed someone closer to her abilities than I was. I raised the question with Gay, without whose collusion and agreement nothing happens. She had noticed Frankie’s altered demeanour and concluded that she was depressed at losing her friend, and agreed that we could start looking for a companion dog who would cheer up Frankie’s flagging spirit.

I surfed the Internet and found an engaging Border Collie pup that needed a home. However, I could not find it when I looked again to see if my interest was still as strong, and so I made another search.

This time I found a BC puppy in Hayden Lake, Idaho. I read the blurb about her and thought that we might be able to do each other some good. Her name was Joy, and she was about twelve weeks old.

I rang the number on the rescue site and spoke with a remarkable lady, Mary Ann Lindsay who, with her husband, Jim, runs a rescue home for Australian Shepherds, but also took in Border Collies. We arranged to go and see Joy.

After driving two and a half hours, we found the Lindsay’s spread, pulled into the yard and saw a bevy of beautiful Australian Shepherds, each of which welcomed us with a touching enthusiasm.

We unloaded Frankie from the rig, as Mary Ann came from the house to bid us welcome, with Joy close on her heels. We went in and sat down to be greeted by each of the dogs that had been kept indoors pending our arrival.

Every one of them was precious and friendly, and we were overwhelmed with affection and doggy kisses. The dogs mostly lived in the Lindsay’s home, but there are large enclosures on their five acres for them to range and run free.

Frankie was rather overwhelmed by all the bigger dogs and stayed close in to us while Mary Ann shooed them outside into the big run, leaving us with Frankie and the dauntless Joy. She had all the energy of a Border Collie, the persistence of a terrier, the face and eyes of a baby black bear, and the magnificent bearing of a stallion.

It was not difficult to decide that we wanted to take her home with us.

Frankie was less sure at first, but after a romp outside with her new sister, she warmed to her and they played catch-me-if-you-can as if they were old friends.

Mary Ann explained how Joy, who we renamed Belle, came to be in her care. Some high school boys heard strange noises behind a row of buildings and went to investigate. To their surprise and dismay they found two younger boys using a helpless little puppy as a football, kicking her from one to the other.

The boys rescued the little puppy and tried to find her owner as she had on a collar but it had no ID tag. However, all their enquiries met with failure, so they contacted Inland Northwest Rescue, and Mary Ann willingly took the abused little mite in.

Apart from a palpable callus on one of her ribs, evidently a healed fracture from being kicked about, she shows no signs that she remembers being so cruelly used. She is very upbeat, holds her own in contests between her and Frankie and each scores about even when they play fight.

I love to see her trotting along a few feet behind her older sister when inspecting the meadowland and forest trails around our home.

Mary Ann and Jim have rescued more than four hundred and fifty dogs in the time they have been running their voluntary rescue. Mary Ann has a life threatening illness, and she cannot be sure how much time she has left to be able to continue her love ministry to needy animals. But her devotion and attention do not diminish despite her personal challenges.

It is the Mary Ann Lindsays of this world that make cold winters less frosty, driving rains less drenching, and harsh winds less cutting, because she and her kindred spirits make the world less unfriendly, warmer, more welcoming, and, above all, safer, for little helpless creatures whose needs for warmth, shelter, affection, and nourishment are no less than ours.

Rescuers, who interrupt and rearrange their lives, set aside their urgent needs to reach out and rescue helpless creatures at the mercy of uncaring owners and cruel children.

Belle has settled into our home, into our life, into our hearts, and into our history. She has transformed Frankie’s lonely existence, cheered us by her antics, and indebted us to her as the catalyst that enabled us to meet a remarkable woman who brightens the world with her life, her love, her warm smile, and her essential work for God’s unlucky creatures.