Lily

I first saw Lily’s picture on the Facebook page of the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue where we had adopted our other Sheltie a few years ago.  She was 7 years old at the time. She looked so sad and forlorn, just standing in the back of a yard in the corner. Her story actually started in a rescue in Texas, where she was evidently born. When they were unable to find her a home, they transferred her to a rescue in Kentucky. They were also unsuccessful so from there she went to Indiana and then Lisa, at WSR agreed to take her as she has been very successful in finding homes for hard to place shelties. We already had 3 cats and 1 dog and really were not looking to add to our zoo, but I couldn’t stop myself from looking at her picture every time I was on my laptop. She just really pulled at my heart strings. Finally my husband said to me, “you really want her, don’t you?”  We contacted Lisa at the rescue.  She was going to be going out of town and asked if we wanted to foster her for a week or so just to see how it went.  I had never had any experience with a dog with her disabilities (Lily is blind and deaf), so that seemed the best way to go about it, but I knew as soon as we saw her, she wouldn’t be leaving.  

The biggest challenge we have had with Lily is that she evidently had been kept away from the other dogs while in rescue. She has never learned to interact with other dogs. She doesn’t know how to play. I really wish she could know the joy of just being a dog, but being around other dogs frightens her, and she shies away from them. Touch with her is very important and really the only way to communicate with her. We communicate with her by touching her on different parts of her body. Two taps on the top of her head for come, a touch on her back near her tail means sit. 

The one thing she does know, though, is how to love. She has the most ethereal affect about her. I call her my Angel dog. She puts her head on your knee and looks up at you with pure love. It melts my heart every time.  Living with her has taught me to slow down and just enjoy life. When I take Lily for a walk, it’s a very slow stroll, so I have gotten to enjoy watching a woodpecker on a tree, or spy a rabbit chewing on grass, something I don’t get to do when I take my other sheltie for our race walk!  Everyone who meets Lily falls instantly in love with her, as she will go up to them and offer her head for a pet. She loves to meet new people. They always comment on how white she is, her fur almost seems like it’s fiberoptic, she’s so white it glistens. I love my girl and am so glad we decided to add to our zoo!!! 

- Written by Vicky Racine