Here are two recent arrivals we’re delighted to introduce … on the left is Alicia M., our new employee, and on the right is Brody, an old blind Lab who came to us late last week from a rescue group in Pennsylvania. I figured this would be a two-for-one bonus blog post!
Alicia joined us a couple of weeks ago. She’s originally from Lewistown, Montana, but was working in Havre, Montana before moving out to the ranch to start working. Alayne and I have been going it alone for quite some time — since October, in fact — so we’re ready for some help.
(The two employees we had last fall didn’t work out … one read the writing on the wall and quit after 13 days, the other one we terminated soon thereafter. After that experience, we decided we’d rather get back to doing everything by ourselves for awhile — no matter what the workload!)
Alicia’s Mom saw our employment ad in her local paper and set it aside. When Alicia came home the following weekend, her Mom showed her the ad and said, "There’s your dream job!" Well, one thing led to another, and here she is! Alicia is a former high school athlete and college volleyball player, so she can handle anything we throw her way. She’s also just terrific with the animals, and they respond to her in kind. Alicia has already started giving injections to horses, so she’s willing to tackle all sorts of new things.
I took these photos late Saturday afternoon, after a long day of chores. Not working that day was Brody, who spent the day lounging on his cot in his private yard, outside our isolation cottage. He flew into Missoula from Philadelphia late Thursday night, and he and I arrived back at the ranch about 1:30 a.m. Friday morning. He came to us from a rescue group in State College, Pennsylvania, Pets Come First, which had pulled him from a local shelter. He had been found in a snowstorm wandering as a stray. No one came to the shelter to claim him.
The rescue originally named him Old Yeller, and while we worked out travel arrangements, he went to a foster home arranged by Cindy McClellen of Rescue Our Furry Friends in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. After we agreed to take him, Pets Come First posted a photo of Old Yeller on their Web site with the headline, "Old Yeller gets accepted at the ‘Harvard’ for blind dogs!"
It was Alicia’s idea to name him Brody, so I thought it was appropriate to take their photo together. He is such an incredibly sweet dog … he loves to shake hands, and he will roll over for a belly rub as soon as you approach him. It’s impossible to imagine this gentle, adorable fellow roaming as a stray in a snowstorm — he is totally blind, can’t see a thing — and even harder to understand why no one would try to find him and bring him home.
But we’re thrilled to have Brody here, where we have lots of other blind Labs — just none of the "Yeller" kind! Once he finishes his two-week quarantine period in our isolation cottage, he’ll get to meet the rest of the blind Lab gang.
Thanks to everyone who helped save this old boy!
(Click on photos for larger image.)
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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