Blue II

When we decided to move to the farm we realized we needed a "watch dog". We had two pet housedogs, my Shih Tzu’s Benjamin and Amanda, the "Fu Fu dogs" as Jim calls them. Ben & Amanda are 14 years old. I have had them since they were 8 wks old. At this time in their life Ben is deaf and Amanda is blind. They do bark but only at your feet and if they are hungry. Even back then they wouldn’t have been of much help as livestock guardians.
Jim had an idea of the breed of dog he wanted for the farm. He loved the idea of Australian Shepherds, Blue Tick Healers and Border Collies to help herd the animals. One day on a whim, we stopped by the local humane society. It is hard for me to visit the shelter; I want to bring them all home. We walked through the entire shelter looking at puppies. Jim’s rule - has to be a puppy, to raise with the animals. Of course I pointed out puppies I thought were cute, but none were what he wanted. In one of the outside kennels Jim saw this scrawny, little spotted pup that for some reason he knew was the one.
I held her on my lap on the drive home. She was covered in fleas, smelled of urine and shook from fear. From the truck she went straight into the bathtub. We treated her for fleas, ticks etc. She was introduced to Ben & Amanda and stayed in the house until she was familiar with her surroundings and us. She actually took to Jim right away, attached herself to him in no uncertain terms, we knew he was her human.
Jim mentioned she looked like a dog he had growing up. That dog was named Blue. He loved that dog and tells stories of her. One year we were at his relative’s house for a Thanksgiving family gathering. They pulled out the old photo albums for a walk down memory lane. I wish I had a copy of the photo to share with you that they pointed out to me. It was a photo of Jim and his brothers when they were much younger. In the photo was the original Blue. I was amazed that Blue II is the spitting imagine of Blue. All of Jim’s relatives, who come to visit and knew Jim when he was younger, mention the likeness between the two dogs.