Thai

For years we have rescued dogs that have been abandoned along the side of the road and given them a home. It is our love for animals that has given us the motivation to do whatever is necessary to adjust our farm to accommodate these dogs and other animals we have taken in.

One day on my way to work, an hour away, halfway there I came up to three dogs along the side of the road. I called Randy to let him know I was about to get out with three dogs and where I was in case something happened. Two of the dogs immediately ran away, but one of them was laying on the side of the road. He appeared to be hurt, but was easily coaxed into the backseat of my car.

I called work to let them know I would be a bit late, turned my car around and headed for home with a slightly damp, very smelly, super timid, but very well-mannered dog in tow. I gave him food, water, and put him in a dog crate in our garage before heading to work. I stopped at houses along the way home to see if anyone had lost a dog and called the local post office where I was told a mail carrier had seen this dog running for weeks.

So he was our’s! A trip to the vet to get him checked out and fixed and then it was time to introduce him to the two dogs we already had (Ash and Koal). Everyone got along great except for one problem. When the sheep would graze along the woven wire fencing that separated our dog’s backyard and the sheep pasture Thai would bit their ears OFF, yes off.

This is the part of rescuing animals from all different backgrounds and all different temperaments that gets hard, time consuming, and expensive. We ended up having to build a privacy fence along one side our our backyard to separate the sheep lot from the dogs to create a barrier between the sheep and what appeared to be a harmless Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix.

The three dogs got along great despite their very different personalities. The vet estimated his age around one year old when we brought him home to live with us. We loved on him for twelve years until he woke up one morning disoriented and sick. It was all of a sudden and we weren’t prepared to lose him, but we let him go with grace and will never forget this big, harry dog who would literally greet us with a smile.