Brady (Whistling Winds Ma's Plan B) came into my life when he was 9 months old.  His former owners left him in a Vari-Kennel crate in front of Kohl’s department store on busy U S Route 1 in Princeton, NJ with all his earthly possessions in a Macy's shopping bag on top of the crate.  Included in the bag, along with his toys, brush, shampoo, bowls, car seat belt harness, placemat, ear tape and instructions, toothbrush, book on Shelties, and other belongings, were his vet records (the name and address of owner were all that was blanked out) and a note saying that he was aggressive and untrainable.  When he was discovered by the Good Samaritans who are still strangers to me, but to whom I am forever indebted, Animal Control was called and he was taken to a veterinary hospital for temperament testing - because of the note. 

A week into his evaluation, I arrived for my vet appointment on a Friday morning with Renton, my Cocker Spaniel and Leo, my toy poodle for their annual shots.  We started talking about puppies and I happened to mention that I was finally ready for another Sheltie - my Tippi had gone to Rainbow Bridge a few years earlier - and I had been looking for the past several months for “An awesome, all-around terrific Sheltie pup” and just the day before had been given the names of two local breeder referrals who I was planning to call the next day to see about the availability of puppies. 

Well, after two weeks and a very strange sequence of events (the former owners were located and subsequently prosecuted on criminal animal cruelty charges) Brady joined us here in his forever home.  We kept his call name, since, after all, it was his name, and registered him for an AKC ILP number (and for anyone who’s ever met him, there is no doubt that he is all Sheltie!) as Whistling Winds Ma's Plan B.  Whistling Winds was the name of our 1843 farmhouse when it was a working farm, and the Plan B is from my agility training: "plan your run, run your plan, have plan B".  My plan to go the breeder route went by the wayside when Brady appeared on the scene………   That was November 2002.  By the way, after his 14-day extensive evaluation and temperament testing, the vet said he was probably the nicest dog she had ever encountered - so much for the aggressive and untrainable excuse.  He has since become a Canine Good Citizen, been herding instinct tested and has the potential to be a good herding dog, is training VERY hard in agility, and (not so hard....) in obedience.  His little brain is like a sponge, so we stay busy having fun. 

So - as you can see - like all of us who are owned and loved by Shelties, I could go on and on about my boy and am shameless in my bragging! And if this were a classic rescue story, it would end by telling you how all my months and months of training, hard work and perseverance turned this “aggressive and untrainable” dog into the amazing little creature that he is.  But that is so NOT true.  The truth is, in looking back at these past several months that I’ve spent together with my housemate, teammate – and soul mate, I’m not sure who the rescuer is and who is the rescued.   This little dog bounced into my life, bringing with him such an exuberance and sheer joy of living, and I am grateful every day for the fate that brought us together on that cold November day and changed his life and my life forever.