Harley and Little Girl

If you like animals and live in the country, you will adopt strays. We did.

Little Girl was our first adoptee. She showed up on a hot day in June. Thirst got her here (we have a pond in the front yard). She looked and acted like a border collie, only she was red and white.

She only weighed about 30 pounds but she held her own playing with Harley. She would just sit quietly like a lady next to you. If you didn�t pet her, she would pat your knee with her foot. Our dogs have fresh food and water available all the time. She would decide she wanted a change. She would leave and in15 minutes (or less) she would come back with a rabbit to eat. She was very protective of us. When Harley first came around she kept him at bay in our woods whenever we were home. She didn�t know him and she was protecting her family.

We lost Little Girl to accidental anti-freeze poisoning. Protect your animals. That is a bad way to lose a beloved pet.

Harley is a large, beautiful, mostly black German Shepard. He is almost 100 pounds now and really looks dangerous. Ice blue eyes with brown spots at the bottom of one. My husband said the brown spots look like the oil drops dripping out of a motorcycle, hence the name Harley.

Harley followed our neighbor home from the store. The neighbor chased him off and he hid in our woods until he could get close to the house and the dog food. He was all skin and bones when he first showed up. Little Girl kept him away for 3 days before he finally was so hungry he pushed the point. After we fed him a little she decided to let him stay. At first, we had to feed him in small bits because his stomach could not handle too much food. He was not a scrounger like Little Girl. He weighs 100 pounds now. He probably weighed no more than 45-50 pounds when he came here. He is a sweetheart. He also thinks he is a lap dog.

Harley and Little Girl were running buddies. They would take off for a couple of hours or longer. One Saturday night they took off and didn�t come home Sunday morning. Little Girl finally came home Sunday evening. Monday morning I called and called. Finally, about 10am, Harley came slowly around the corner of the house. Blood all over him. Someone had shot him with a deer rifle through the neck. Probably Saturday night. We loaded him in the car and went the 38 miles to the vet. The vet patched him up (lots of stitches and staples) and said nothing vital was hit. Bring him back in 10 days to have the stitches taken out. I didn�t know it at the time, but the vet didn�t really expect him to make it. That night he had to be penned up. Little Girl would not have it unless she was in there with him. The second night, she managed to get them out of the pen and there they went again. 10 days later, Harley went back in to have the stitches and staples taken out. He had gained 9 pounds and amazed the vet. Today, you cannot find any scars on Harley. His hair is thick and it grew in solid where he was shot. He now sports a wide ORANGE collar so people will realize that he is a pet, not a wolf. He is terrified of the sight or sound of guns so I imagine he saw the person that shot him. But, he is still a doll and just wants to be with us as much as possible.