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.

Aspen
7) Aspen was picked up by Animal Control for the "umpteenth" time, and this time his owners didn't bother to come pick him up. Animal Control contacted Sheltie Rescue of Utah and we immediately went to get him. The poor guy was in horrible condition and had to be shaved just to allow us to get down to his skin, where we discovered countless embedded foxtails and other injuries. When we took him to the vet for treatment, X-rays revealed that his right foreleg had been broken and healed (how?) without ever having been treated and set! In fact, the entire right side of his body showed signs of serious injuries, suggesting that he was (at least) once hit by a car. In late December, 2004, Aspen's pain began to get the best of him and he was clearly losing his quality of life. With heavy hearts, we made the difficult decision on January 6, 2005, to release him from the pain and other medical problems. While held in loving arms, Aspen crossed the Rainbow Bridge, where he can play all day without all the pain he had suffered.

Rascal
8) Rascal was a very sweet senior citizen. He was almost completely deaf, but extremely good natured and alert. He loved to snuggle and be petted and got along with everybody, including other dogs. Regrettably, before we were able to find a permanent home for Rascal, it became apparent that his seeming good health was not going to last, so we put him into our hospice care program. When his organs began to fail in mid-2005, we decided that we had to let him go. He was helped along to the Rainbow Bridge being held in our loving arms.

Lily
9) Lily showed up on the doorstep of a friend of Sheltie Rescue during the great post-Christmas snowstorm of 2003, cold, hungry, exhausted, and obviously lost. No owners could be found and it was obvious that Lily was a senior. She was quickly named "Tiny Lil", in no small part because she weighed less than 12 pounds! The wonderful people who found Lily immediately gave her excellent medical care and nursed her back to health. Due to jealousy in the household (an existing dog resented having new competition), Lily's rescuers were unable to adopt her. We took her into hospice care and had over a year and a half of her love in our lives. Lily had a tremendous personality and just adored being held and cuddled. Unfortunately, Lily lost her battle with age in the autumn of 2005 and we released her to join all of her friends at the Rainbow Bridge.

Amina
10) This little bi-colored ("bi-black") girl is Amina, whom we named after an African (Hausa) princess who lived in the 15th century. Amina, whom we believed (in 2002) to be between 5and 8 years of age, was found wandering the streets of West Valley City on an extremely hot summer day and turned over to the West Valley animal shelter. When the required number of days had passed, we rescued her from the shelter and brought her into the Sheltie Rescue program. Unfortunately, just after she came to us, she began having grand mal seizures (several in a day). Our veterinarian's diagnosis was that Amina was having cluster seizures and put her on a variety of medications, which she had to take for the rest of her life. Our vet told us early in 2003 that Amina probably had no more than a couple of months to live, but she was a veritable Energizer Bunny...she kept on going and going and going. Amina obviously had a very hard life in the past and suffered from fairly serious arthritis, but with the relief and reduction in joint inflammation that the Rimadyl gave her, she became one of the most enthusiastic ball chasers and catchers we know. Unfortunately, Amina had several neurologic disorders, possibly caused by some sort of meningitis (or injury or poison or who-knows-what). She was not adoptable and lived with us in hospice care until she died of stomach cancer and crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 19 December, 2005. We'll miss Amina for a very long time.