Caoimhe's Story

Today, my husband and I live on a 21 acre farm in Carroll County, Maryland. Several years ago, a stray dog showed up on our property, but stayed well away from the house. A few days later, while I was in the barn doing chores, this huge shadow got up from it’s bed of rags, and it scared me so much, that I ran out of the barn. I did, however, return immediately (well, AFTER I calmed myself down!) with a bowl of dog food. The next day, the dog came out of the barn, and after a short standoff, we sized each other up, and the poor skinny creature began to gobble up the food hungrily. My intent wasn’t to keep him, as I already had two other dogs, but this guy followed me around, listened to every word I said, and was amazingly smart and intuitive. To make a long story short, I named the dog O’Malley, and he turned out to be the BEST dog I have ever owned. He certainly turned my opinion of Dobies around 180 degrees! Unfortunately, we only got to have O’Malley for 3 years, because he became ill one day and he died as soon as we reached the vets, too late to be saved.

"So this is a success story?", you say. Well, my husband said that we could get another dog as soon as I was ready. I remembered reading somewhere about an organization that fostered Dobies, and for some strange reason, I actually remembered where I had put the article! I dug it out, and it was so old that there was no web page listed in the article, but undaunted, I searched for the name of the rescue organization, DARE, on-line, and found it!

So, NOW comes the success story! (Finally, you say!) After we were accepted into the program (and what Dobie would NOT want to come to a 21 acre farm where they could run forever?), we had to find our perfect companion. We already had Barney, a beagle/Corgi pound puppy, who generally got a long with everyone, including our 9 cats. Kathleen, the lady who did our home interview, gently reminded us that we should not get the first dog that we looked at - even though she herself had done that and just adores her Kayla. I understood that, and vowed to go slow! However, when I looked at the available list and picked out a girl that I wanted to visit, I never suspected that I would be taking her home with me!

I traveled to Virginia, about a 2 hour drive, met "Abby", and foster Mom, Sue, and there WAS a connection! "Abby" had just been spayed, but seemed interested in me, also. I came back a week later, and we continued to strengthen the bond. She even met Barney, her soon-to-be brother, and THEY got along. So, off to the farm to enjoy the rest of her days!

That was January 26th of this year [2002], and, boy, what a changed dog! When we adopted her, she was lethargic and overweight. A trip to the vets let us know that she had a thyroid problem, but with daily meds, she soon evolved into a truly amazing girl! Being of Irish decent, I gave her an Irish name, Caiomhe (pronounced "Keeva", which means ‘beauty and grace’), of which she possesses both, and the rest is Dobie history! She blends in with the farm perfectly! She is my buddy, and rides everywhere with Barney and me, and sometimes they ride into town with my husband in the front seat of the truck. She loves our long walks on the farm and sleeps with the cats! We like to think that she has found her heaven. I know we have!