For the Love of Our Dog Brownie Chapter 4

The farmer, Robert Peterson, who passed Tim in Ricky’s doorway, adopted Fluffy right after Tim left. Robert needed a herding dog for his family’s cattle. A purebred Australian Shepherd was perfect for the job. Robert was grateful for the opportunity to adopt Fluffy. That left seven. The runt, noticeably upset by the loss of her mother, whined and cried for much of the evening.

Ricky came over and did what he could to comfort the little one by petting her and rubbing her feet. The runt looked deep into his eyes, expressing the pain she felt in her heart. She lost her home and now her mother. Ricky never felt the searing pain of loss coming from any dog he ever boarded.

So, he spent several minutes deciding where to put her. With the little dog nestled in his right hand, Ricky examined the kennels containing the runt’s brothers and sisters. At the end of the main aisle, he saw Red, the runt’s little brother. There was plenty of room in Red’s kennel for the runt.

“I guess she would do better with him than the others,” Ricky said to himself.

Red lay sleeping at the back of his kennel as Ricky opened the kennel’s door and placed her in Red’s home. The dog adopter walked back to the front desk.

Red awoke and walked toward his little sister. He was a bit larger than her, but his glistening red hair set him apart from his black sister.

“Is this it?” Red whined.

“I guess so,” the runt whined back.

Other dogs grunted and whined, “We don’t want to be here either!”

With whining and barking all around, Red and the runt began snuggling each other. Soon both fell asleep amidst the racket.

The shop had just closed and wouldn’t re-open until Monday. Throughout the weekend, the runt continued to eye the short, stocky, middle-aged man with thinning gray hair. His heart went out to the little dog. By Sunday afternoon, he decided to name her Rebecca in honor of his granddaughter.