The Forgotten Few
Our pack of house dogs that are constantly outshined by the guard dogs, so here's their spotlight.
There’s been a handful of instances where our housedogs have made a brief appearance on my social media stories, but that’s about it. I tend to just stick to the animals that live outside, but many of you have asked for the housedogs, so here is their moment to shine. I’m sure they would refer to themselves as a dirgeful of nicknames, but believe me, they get their fair share of cuddles and snuggles. However, on social media, they are the forgotten few.
And that’s not due to any fault of their own! It’s just the polar bears, fluffy goats, and ridiculous barn cats always seem to catch the limelight. But our motley crew of rescues has stories of their own, especially since they are made up of 2 shih tzus and a border collie. And they add to the underlying question, “Are we really a ranch or are we a rescue?” I can promise you one thing. That question will always be debated. Now stop getting sidetracked.
Let’s start with the black sheep of the family, which is clearly Belle the Border Collie. Yes, yes, I know that name is like the most common name for female border collies, but guess what my middle name is? Take a wild guess. Go on. Did you guess “Marie”? Congratulations. You can now see the extent of creativity in this family. Moving on.
Belle is 5 years old now and has already lived too many lives for her poor herding heart. Like many rescues, she began as an unwanted puppy and a living, breathing trauma dump for the humans around her. Based on Belle’s reactions to us getting out a flyswatter or picking up any object that could be used to hit things, I can safely assume that she was indeed abused. Even now, her eyes still hold echoes of sorrow, and her least favorite thing is being in trouble.
Belle grew up in Spokane, Washington. Through the grapevine, a lady heard about Belle and rescued her as a puppy. And while Belle’s situation got better, it was not by much. While this kind-hearted lady did save Belle from further abuse, Belle was now stuck in a one-bedroom apartment in a dilapidated neighborhood with a single window and a cat for company. So you can imagine how a growing BORDER COLLIE was doing in that size of space. With the energy of a nuclear bomb, the speed of a Ferrari, and the longing to work coursing through her veins, her salvation quickly became another prison.
The lady knew this and put Belle out on PetFinder in hopes that she would find a more suitable home. And guess who was perusing the site? My mother, with a heart two sizes too big, saw her and immediately fell in love. And that is how Belle came into our lives. She now has a gigantic yard that she loves to zoom around, 2 Shih Tzu brothers to herd, and she gets to go on horseback rides and adventure all over the mountains. A true fairy tale ending for sweet Belle.
Next up is Kip. Also known as Kipper, Kipling, Kipcake, Tooshie, Toyff (I have no idea but ask my sister), Tooshiebutt, Angelbutt (there are so many butt variations you have no idea and neither do I), etc. Kip came into our lives 6 years ago when my mom (you’ll notice she’s a common thread in these stories) had been watching National Mill Dog Rescue like a hawk. My mom has always been a shih tzu fan and she was really missing having a cuddle buddy. National Mill Dog Rescue does these unloading videos after they rescue a bunch of puppy mill dogs and Mom was watching one of these and saw Kip and knew that he was the one. I have no idea how because he looked to me like a mop with a tail but she knew. Yes, there were tears.
So, like the diligent, dedicated, and dutiful daughter I am, my mom and I drove all the way from the top of Idaho to Peyton, Colorado, to pick up this mop that captured my mom’s heart. As you can imagine, when they brought him out, my mom was a puddle. We then drove the 18+ hours home with Kip, the perfect traveller, curled up on my mom’s lap.
It was quite fortuitous that we got Kip when we did, for not a year later, my mom was diagnosed with Grade 3A Breast Cancer. Kip was her constant companion during this time. The days when my mom had horrible chemo drugs flowing through her system, and she was so sick and so weak, Kip would lie on her chest. A constant, warm, healing presence. He would do that for hours. Every. Day. The perfect healing companion. He was with her every step of the journey and continues to be the family's emotional support dog. Except for me cause I got my own.
That’s right, last but not least is my boy Sochi! But I’m actually his emotional support human, and I didn’t even want him. I know that sounds callous, especially now that even the thought of leaving him brings me to tears (yes, literally). But after I lost my heart dog, I never wanted to go through that pain again. Well, so much for that plan.
Our house dog pack was made up of Kip and Belle but when mom would take Belle on big dog excursions, that left Kip all alone. So a buddy for Kip was needed. My mom had been following Journey Home Rescue for a long time and saw Sochi’s scraggly face come across and immediately knew that he was the one. So we drove the few hours to go get him and he curled up next to me the whole ride home.
He was a total ragamuffin that looked like the socks forgotten behind the dryer and smelled of neglect and ear infections. But his too-big eyes began to crack the armor I had placed around my heart. Every morning when I came downstairs, he would personally greet me like I was the best thing ever. I mean, how could I not begin to fall in love with that kind of attention? Day by day, our bond grew stronger until we had relatives out to visit and I took Sochi up to sleep with me so that he would not bother the guests. Well, that was the final nail in the coffin, and he has been my best bud ever since. He is my baby and he adores me. What more could you want?
So that is our house dog pack. The Forgotten Few as I’m sure they call themselves. But with our daily walks and tons of snuggles, they are anything but forgotten.
