Holly was rescued by R.E.S.C.U.E. in December 2000.  The foster coordinator called me to see if I wanted to foster her or one of the other two border collies that had been rescued after a house fire.  I had just adopted another dog, Magee, from R.E.S.C.U.E. but felt I had room for a foster.

I went to the veterinary hospital where the dogs were being kenneled and saw one border collie sitting proudly at the front of a kennel and one crouched in a little pile at the back of a kennel.  Liking a challenge, I chose the shy little pile that I named Holly.

This little girl was so shy and fearful that I had to sit on the floor with her to put a leash on her.  When we went for our first walks, everything frightened her and she tried to bolt at any movement.  Slowly, she improved.  It was time to get her spayed to prepare for adoption.

In January, only a few days after her spay, I took her to the adoption center with tears in my eyes.  I had fostered many dogs and never fell in love like I had with this girl.  But, since I had just adopted Magee, I felt like I should concentrate on him.  With people hovering over her declaring her "so cute", I left her at the center, knowing she would be adopted.  I told the adoption counselor "Just make sure she gets a good home."  

I called later that afternoon and was told that she was getting a new collar now and her new owners consisted of a man, woman, and child.  I hoped they would love her like I did.

Around 6 p.m. that day my phone rang.  When I heard it was Holly's adopters, I thought "How nice, they are calling to tell me how wonderful she is!".  But, no, they were calling to tell me that when they were leaving the adoption center, the daughter dropped the leash and Holly was gone!  She managed to run across a very busy 6 lane road without getting hit, but then disappeared.  The husband had tried to follow, but she was a very fast little girl and he soon lost her.

I was in shock.  I dropped what I was doing, grabbed a flashlight, and went looking for a very fearful black dog at night.  I looked in culverts, in stores, asked everyone I came across, but no Holly.  I couldn't sleep but worried about this poor dog that had first survived a fire, now running loose with a new harness, a new collar, and a new leash and no identification.

Luckily I had taken a picture of her just a couple days before so I got it printed and put a flyer together.  I put up flyers everywhere I could think of and even had it translated into Spanish for the nearby Hispanic area.  Every day I went out and put up more flyers.  The people that had adopted her were instructed to go to the two pounds every other day to look for her.

I had almost given up hope of finding her.  On the following Sunday, I was out putting up more flyers in a new neighborhood about a mile away from where she had been until I ran out of tape.  I prayed that someone had found her and kept her.

My pager went off around 10 a.m. Monday.  I jumped and called the number.  The people said that they thought they had found her - that she looked just like the picture on the flyer.  They said that she wouldn't come to them for a biscuit.  Sounded like Holly.  My heart raced.  She was in that last neighborhood where I had put up flyers the day before!  They said they would stay with her until I could get there.  I was about 15 miles away, but I got there in about 5 minutes I think.

When I got to where the people were, there was no dog.  But they were smiling.  I asked where she was and they said that she was so scared that she dug under these people's fence.  I just said "Well, I hope it isn't locked" and went over and opened the gate.  I called her and around the corner of the house ran my little Holly, covered in mud.  It had been a very rainy week while she was gone.  She was so happy to see me and I just scooped her up and told her she was not leaving me again.  

I thanked the people profusely and put muddy Holly in my backseat.  We went directly home and into the bath.  Magee was jumping with joy when he saw Holly.  I think I was in shock.  I called R.E.S.C.U.E. (we had been in constant contact) and told them I had her.  They understood that we belonged together.  The adopter was called and we found out that on one of their trips to the pound, they had already adopted another dog that looked like Holly.  Because of the turn-in date, they knew it was not her, but they had given up on Holly.

Since then, Holly will not leave my side.  When we go on vacation to Colorado to visit my friends with their three dogs, all the dogs go out for a walk with Don.  But Holly will not go unless I go, too.  

I thought that maybe Agility would help her confidence.  People that knew her in January 2000 can't believe this is the same dog.  The dog that wouldn't leave my side at the dog park, now approaches almost everyone, hoping that they have treats.  That is Holly's favorite part of agility -- the treats!  But you can see from the pictures, that she loves the agility part, too.

I blame myself for Holly not winning any titles yet.  She knows where to go, but unfortunately, I'm the one that gets lost out there!  We did get a clean run in our last Jumpers competition and if I hadn't been called for a block, we would have had a clean Standard run, too!  Just need to keep practicing!

Hope you enjoyed Holly's story!  I love telling it.

**Update 6/29/05**  We have finally gotten a couple titles:  USDAA Performance Jumpers, AKC Novice A Jumpers, and NADAC Novice A Gamblers!

**Update 12/05**  Holly and I have retired.  Me because of my bad back, her because she is already close to 6 years old and certainly not getting faster!