Unless you\u2019re someone who loves dogs, this story may not be of interest to you. It\u2019s all about how a dog was rescued from this area and went on to become a very important member in the lives Karen and Dave Baril, a couple who live in the northwest hills of Connecticut. This is Tipper\u2019s story. After being picked up on the side of the road in a very remote area, this dog eventually showed up next door to the home of a couple whose family has included many pets over the course of time. Even though this particular dog seemed to think she needed to be given permission before she came into their yard, she eventually started to look forward to seeing either the husband or wife out in their yard. The wife began buying extra dog food just to be sure the dog wasn\u2019t going hungry, and eventually, she gave the dog the name Tipper. Very soon after Tipper\u2019s arrival in their neighborhood, the couple became concerned about Tipper\u2019s lack of protection from the rain and cold, and the need for a more stable home. It was through a conversation the wife had with a friend who was a member of the PAWS organization in a neighboring town that arrangements were made for Tipper to be cared for in the this member\u2019s home until a permanent home was available. One of the main goals the PAWS organization has is to find homes for rescued animals. This particular friend and her husband have a long list of different dogs they have provided foster care for until each one was adopted into a permanent home. The following is shared by the wife of the couple who provided foster care for Tipper until she was later adopted:
\u201cAfter getting word about a dog wandering around town that would more than likely get hit by a car, I agreed to provide foster care for this dog. She turned out to be a very sweet Border Collie who was several years old. Tipper was my first foster dog. She was so easy, crate trained, potty trained, and she would walk on the leash. She got along great with my dogs too. After she was spayed and fully vaccinated, we put her up for adoption. Even though Tipper was a very special girl, we, the PAWS organization, just couldn\u2019t seem to get the right application for her. Finally after four months of having her in my home, we received a wonderful application that sounded like the perfect home for Tipper. I knew it was going to be hard to give her up after such a long time in our home with all the interacting, snuggling, and playing with her. The application was approved and I called the lady in Conneticut to let her know that she was going to get Tipper if she wanted her. We had a long conversation about her, during which I told her all about Tipper and what a special dog I thought she was. Even though I couldn\u2019t explain exactly what made her so special, I believed she would see Tipper\u2019s special qualities when she met her. Two weeks later, I took Tipper to the transport for pick up. That was a heartbreaking experience because I had become very attached to her, but on the other hand, I was sure she was going to a wonderful forever home. I anxiously awaited to hear from her new family, and sure enough, they recognized what a special dog Tipper was. They couldn\u2019t put a name to it either but we all knew it. Tipper had a wonderful life in her new home, and one year after she was adopted, my husband and I took a vacation to the Northeast. While we were in that area, we were invited to Tipper\u2019s adopters home. She actually wagged her tail and ran to me when we got out of the car. It was amazing. She was in a wonderful place and very much loved. The adopter said everyone who ever met Tipper said she was a very special dog and she was. I have a picture of Tipper her new owner sent to me that sits on my desk and is a wonderful reminder of her time spent in our home.\u201d
The following was written by Karen Baril, the wife of the couple who adopted Tipper: \u201cDave and I stood in Dr. Joe\u2019s surgical suite looking down at Tipper, our black and white Border Collie mix. Dr. Joe, a brand new veterinarian for Tipper, had just removed seventeen rotten teeth from her mouth. I rested my hand on Tipper\u2019s head, thinking she\u2019d be eating mush for the rest of her life. The number of teeth removed seemed extraordinary to me. \u201cNo worries,\u201d said Dr. Joe. \u201cDogs have more teeth than we do and Tipper will be right as rain in no time. It\u2019s unfortunate, but rotten teeth are a common Border Collie problem. There is one minor thing, though\u2026a little bad news, actually.\u201d I turned my attention to Dr. Joe. \u201cBad news?\u201d \u201cNothing too terrible, but you see\u2026Tipper is a little older than you think. She\u2019s not eight years old, are you Tipper?\u201d He rubbed Tipper\u2019s ear gently. \u201cShe\u2019s closer to thirteen years old.\u201d \u201cThirteen?\u201d I glanced at Tipper as if she\u2019d been keeping a secret she\u2019d only just revealed to her physician. \u201cThirteen?\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t stress about it,\u201d said Dr. Joe, still smiling at Tipper. \u201cShe\u2019s got a lot of life in her. Border Collies typically live a long time.\u201d I knew that adopting an adult dog was a gamble. Her rescuers had only guessed at her age, but to lose five years in a single afternoon! Tipper was my dog of a lifetime. It wasn\u2019t fair! Besides, where had she been those five years? Where had she been before she was rescued? I had lots of questions, but Tipper wasn\u2019t talking. She just smiled back at me, the way dogs do, with their eyes half closed. She wasn\u2019t going to dwell on what was lost. She\u2019d take the glass half full attitude. That was her way. Within a week after her surgery she was back on the job. She was her own little fur person, protecting our small horse farm, doing her best to herd chickens that simply would not be herded, and chasing the occasional squirrel. If you\u2019ve loved a great dog, you know they tell you things with their body, speaking or whispering as clearly as if they\u2019d spoken aloud. Tipper had this way of looking at me and then gently closing her eyes. That gentle gaze often meant, I hope we get to lie in this square of sunshine for a long while. Or it could also just be Tipper and I sharing a private joke in the middle of a crowded picnic. At other times, it simply meant\u2026now, aren\u2019t we lucky to have found each other? Tipper was not the fawning all over you type. Don\u2019t get me wrong; she was never stingy with love and devotion, but in typical Border Collie fashion, you had to win her over first. That could take a year or two, maybe more. When I first adopted her, I noticed Tipper would not look me in the eye. I never pushed her, never forced her to do anything, never tried to teach her the normal doggy commands. She wasn\u2019t the type. She\u2019d seen too much. She\u2019d suffered too greatly. You couldn\u2019t tell a story in a loud voice. She\u2019d tremble. I often thought of her as a little hummingbird. She\u2019d fly away in a heartbeat if she thought a storm was brewing. Tipper wove her life through ours, until we found ourselves saying things like this: \u201cNow wasn\u2019t that the year Tipper came to live with us?,\u201d or \u201cWasn\u2019t that the summer Tipper chased that fox away from the chicken coop?\u201d You find you can\u2019t remember a time when you didn\u2019t have this dog in your life. As a kid I dreamed of her. I realized I\u2019d been dreaming Tipper into my life since I was just a little girl. I know I couldn\u2019t remember a time when I didn\u2019t have Tipper to listen to all my troubles, my triumphs, and my really bad jokes. I couldn\u2019t imagine a time when she wasn\u2019t by my side. So, last October, when Tipper was somewhere around the age of eighteen, I noticed one afternoon that her light was going out. She was like a little hurricane lamp running out of fuel. I took a few photos of her lying in the sunshine, but my eyes teared behind the camera. I knew, I just knew these were the last photos. And I was right. Just a few days later when Tipper stopped eating the home cooked morsels I\u2019d been making for her, she stopped drinking water as well. That\u2019s when I knew it was time. I wanted her little spirit to rest at home on the farm where she\u2019d worked every day. Our veterinarian came to our home just after dusk. Tipper was on her bed by the fireplace. A gusty wind picked up outside. We said a prayer for her, kissed her, and, of course, reminded her that she was the best farm doggy ever. But, she already knew that. As Tipper gently drifted off to sleep, this little dog who came to me unable to look me in the eye, gazed deep into my soul. Philosophers say that time is just a human invention, that time isn\u2019t really anything more than a way for us to understand the past, present, and future. Time means nothing at all, really. I think they might be right. Tipper will always live in my past, my present, and my future. She was that kind of dog. My dog of a lifetime.\u201d
I\u2019ll conclude this story with a quote from Will Rogers: \u201cIf there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go wherever they went.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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