Part 1: Rescue dogs and us

As you know, Sadie Mae came to us from a rescue group. I had started to look online for a border collie girl a couple weeks ago. But I'm getting ahead of the story.

Many people are afraid of rescue dogs. We've been fortunate with ours. 

My first border collie was a lab mix. She was not a rescue. I named her Boo because she looked like a little black bear cub and I thought we could go steal picnic baskets. She was 2 months old and had just been weaned. 

Great spirit and disposition. Well behaved. Super duper Frisbee dog. Rugby dog. Learned her voice commands and ran like the wind. She went everywhere with me/us. Once the babies started coming, she was the best dog you'd ever want with your babies. I loved her dearly. It would be a few years before I could let another pup in my life.

I really didn't want another dog when we rescued the next one. We found out about a young shih tzu female being kept in a garage 23 hours a day. In the cold and dark on an old bath towel. That was an unacceptable situation. We managed to talk the people into giving her to us thankfully. Belle lived a good long life with us for a dozen or more years. 

During this time we thought Belle could use a playmate because we all worked or went to school. We started asking around and found out about Chi Chi the chihuahua. It didn't start as a rescue but when we went to meet her, she was under their couch terrified by her life there. Needless to say, I couldn't scoop her up and out of there fast enough. It took a while for her to adjust to the new surroundings and trust us. After a few months Chi was a well adjusted girl full of affection. She was with us for 10 years before her big little heart gave out.