Today was a day of high and lows. The high being getting to travel to Bozeman with a friend where she met and adopted a senior sheltie boy. It was fun to see her open her heart up to this senior dog who although he was loved no longer fit into his family. The sheltie adored the new baby BUT he became very protective and would alarm bark at every car passing the house and every noise. After 6 months of diligent work his family could not solve the problem and regretfully decided to try to find him another home. They had a long list of criteria to be met and had given up. What they didn't know was that I had spotted their ad on Craigslist and had forwarded to my friend who had been mulling it over for days. Presto...the next day Pam emailed them and after a week of emails today we headed to Bozeman to meet him. It was a bittersweet meeting. Pam was torn between feeling so sorry for his old owner and being elated to have a sheltie boy back in her life. We got home kind of late so Sam is here tonight and will start his life with his new family in the light of day.

When I got home there was two bits of sad news waiting for me. One call from a local gal in the kennel club. One of her cherished show shelties is mysteriously missing from his yard. A 2 year old black and white boy. The fences are 100% and the gates were secure. No neighborhood sightings. No body along the road. He has just vanished into thin air. With her remote location is seems unlikely that he was stolen. She had called and left a message to see if I could maybe track him. My best tracker, Dusk, just turned 12 years and with the days that have passed and lack of any sign of the lost boy it seems pretty doubtful. I will call her in the morning. The other bit of really sad news is my friend up north who is very involved with Search and Rescue lost her 15 month old up and coming search dog. This dog is the son of her current search dog. She has traveled around the world to help in searches. Western Montana is certainly safer with her and her dogs in the area. I am not clear on the details but somehow during one of her training sessions he got loose and ran into traffic. I tried all night to call her and finally had to settle on sending her a email. Hopefully she is in bed sleeping off the worst of the pain. Hug those pups and never miss a moment to fill your eyes with their beauty and your heart with their love.