Teardrop
17) Teardrop came to us from a former Sheltie breeder in a nearby state who is a senior who had an accident that left her unable to give her Shelties the standard of care that she wanted to give them. Teardrop was only 4 and a half years old (October 2006), was very sweet, and only wanted for her life to return to "normal" as soon as possible. Teardrop was fostered by two foster moms until we found just the right foster home for her — along with her sister Pearl. Her foster mom was extremely protective of her two charges and was extra careful, knowing that Teardrop was a "runner". A freak event happened in late January, 2007, when Teardrop yanked a leash (attached to a choke collar) out of her foster mom's hand as a friend opened the gate to the fully-fenced yard. Teardrop slipped through the gate and disappeared down the street. While her foster mom searched for her, we received a phone call from a caring motorist who had witnessed Teardrop being hit by a car; that motorist stayed with Teardrop until her last breath left and she crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Teardrop's foster mom was devastated, as are we. This darling girl was loved so much and will be missed terribly.

Timmy
6) Timmy came to us with undiagnosed eye problems, caused (as we later learned) by a birth defect—his optic nerve did not develop normally. Timmy had problems navigating around our house and yard and we eventually realized that he had trouble detecting boundaries, such as those between solid objects and open space! However, Timmy had such a super-sweet disposition and a fantastic attitude towards life that we never even considered putting him down. He didn't have a clue that he was disadvantaged, and his intelligence was constantly demonstrated as he would carefully learn his way around new environments. We placed Timmy with a lovely woman who lived in a 1-level house (so Timmy wouldn't have to deal with negotiating stairs and risking a tumble) and was willing to understand and help Timmy deal with his vision problems. In late 2003, we learned that Timmy had passed away. We share his wonderful mom's sadness at his passing, but rejoice that he had such a wonderful (if altogether too short) life.

Tzar (sometimes spelled Czar)
20) Czar was the sweetest, gentlest senior Sheltie you could ever want to meet – his name is not a good fit with his true personality. If he thinks that you might want to hurt him he'll turn his head and open his mouth as though he's going to bite you, but he doesn't complete the movement and has never bitten anyone. However, this behavior suggests that Czar may have been roughly treated. Czar's bark doesn't seem have an "off button". Because he's a bit deaf, you'll need to help him understand that it's time to stop barking by walking up to him, to which he responds quickly. Whenever other dogs would start playing, he ran around with them, barking as though he were a referee! After being with us for about two years, Tzar began to deteriorate...and then a cancer attacked the right size of his face. It grew to be over 1/2 the size of his head, so we knew that we had to be sure that he wasn't suffering. After living with the tumor for about a month, it was obvious that we needed to say goodbye. Tzar's at the Rainbow Bridge now, no doubt trying to avoid Sly, who always growled at poor old Tzar.