Betty is the sweetest woman I've met in a long time. I met her on
the Canine Behavior board at iVillage. She had this dog, Harley, who she and her daughter, Victoria, adored. But
she felt that Harley needed space to run and play and be a super energized puppy. When I heard that he was a shep/dobie
mix (like Shiminute), I casually posted, "if you live near NY and decide that you want to give him away, I'll take him."
Little did I know how much those words would mean.
For a month, we wrote back and forth on the board. She was such a
super person and clearly she loved this dog and wanted to work things out. She and Vicki lived in a condo and finally,
one day, she wrote to me and said that she loved Harley so much that she wanted to find him a home where he could have more
space and still be loved. I knew then that Harley was coming to us if she was willing.
I'll never forget the day we met in NJ to pick him up. Of course,
we knew he was coming with us. Betty had packed all of his toys and food up and handed it to us with his leash.
And she cried. When our cars made opposite turns, Harley looked out the window at her and it broke our hearts.
I knew then that I had to do my best to love him as much as I could.
Ron says that Harley is Wooley's dog, not ours! He follows him everywhere!
When we throw a ball, Wooley chases it with Harley behind him. If Harley gets there first, he waits for Wooley to grab
it and then they both run back! Everyone of Harley's toys we take out of his "Betty Bag" ends up being Wooley's "new
favorite toy" and Harley shares willingly. Shim is his protector and has never even growled at him. Harley fits
in our family just fine!
(p.s. for those of you who know how small our house is, YES, we know we
are insane! we kinda like it that way!)
