The Miracle Sheltie

This post was written by guest author Dave Stewart.

In 2000, I was living in a townhouse just outside of Baltimore; we had finally got a fence and I longed to get a dog. My wife, on the other hand, was not crazy about the idea. You see, she grew up in Jamaica and was not keen on having a dog or any other kind of animal living in the house. I had managed to persuade her into 4 cockatiels but anything beyond this was out of the question. We had three children at the time and 3 children and 4 cockatiels were quite enough. To make matters worse, we had tried a dog from the SPCA and he was a runner; that is to say. if the door opened, he ran and ran far, so he had to go back to the SPCA.

Growing up I had a sheltie. His name was Mickey and after getting married he stayed with my parents; he loved us all so this was okay with me, plus I couldn’t have pets in our apartment at the time. As a result, I tried to convince my wife to get a sheltie, but she was having none of it. Then I began my work. I had an old picture of Mickey and me, so I put it on my night stand. Not long after, I bought book about shelties. Then, my birthday rolled around and do you know what my mother sent me? A sheltie. on the front of a birthday card. That went on to the night stand too. I had quite a little sheltie display going, my wife called it a shrine.

Well, as I recall, I had done some reading about shelties and selecting puppies because I really didn’t know much about selecting a dog, even though I had owned one, as a boy. I don’t recall how it happened, but somehow, my wife weakened for a bit and we started searching for shelties in the paper. We went to look at a couple but the parents weren’t there and although the pups had been recently spruced up, I didn’t think they were cared for that well, so reluctantly I had to pass. I also remember another trip out to look at a puppy, we drove up the driveway, the cages and conditions were literally sickening, we turned around and left. That place was appalling.

As a result of all this “unsuccess”, I began to check into sheltie breeders and sheltie rescues but no one had anything. It was depressing. Then my wife lost interest. She did not want a dog. I remember riding to work that day and praying as I drove. I had decided to give up my efforts to pursue a sheltie. Everything had failed, no one had any puppies, the sheltie rescues had been empty, I couldn’t find one and now my wife was against it too. I remember the prayer, maybe not the exact words but the content; basically, I was giving up until the time was right.

Well believe it or not, that day at work my wife called me, one of the sheltie rescues had called and wanted to know if I was still interested. My wife was totally okay with this too. A double miracle. Right after that, the sheltie rescue lady called me at work. She described the dog “A beautiful dog”, and his past, why he was up for adoption and so on. Just before she hung up I asked her, oh, by the way, what’s his name? “Miracle”, she said. And I knew that was the dog for me.

We enjoyed Miracle for 5 years before he died of liver cancer. And believe it for not, my wife had been his best friend. He had a good life with us and we had a good life with him. Funny thing, my wife needed no encouragement to get another dog. She was hooked, another miracle.

* Dave Stewart, from http://MrStewart.com, is Sheltie “LVR” and basically loves all dogs, and technology. Dave is a teacher at heart, and is currently working on writing a few e-Books.

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3 Responses

  1. threio
    | Reply

    Shelter or a rescue is always a good place to start when looking for a pet. Especially if you donot have experience, the staff always give a reference of what not to do with caring for a pet. great story

  2. priscilla
    | Reply

    Wonderful story, I had a Sheltie she was wonderful and rescued from a life of having puppies for the first 5 years of her life. Lost her to Lymphoma stage 4 Nov. 08 and my heart has never been the same. Devestated

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