Tootsie first appeared in Tennessee at a shelter and was taken in by a local rescue group. Both BONE rescue and BCCA rescue noticed her on a web site and joined forces to find her a home. She is only about 30 pounds, so could be a Neardie but looked very much Beardie. No matter, a home was waiting as Lisa Wahoff in Ohio had already made some calls. The groups joined together to place her. Diane Vigeant made the necessary calls and picked up. Tootsie and took her to get groomed and kenneled until her new owner could make the long trip to pick her up.

Diane's account of the day as Tootsie meets her new family:

On May 16,2001 Tootsie's new owner, Smokey, drove 500-miles from Northern Ohio to Tennessee to pick up Tootsie Since Tootsie had been temporarily boarded and groomed, we went into the kennel. The receptionist went back to the kennel area, and a few seconds later, from the direction where a frightened, shy, little dog went on Monday, out bounced a happy, tail-wagging, excited ball of fur.

Smokey picked her up, kissed her on the nose, and asked her if she wanted to go home with him. Jeff (groomer/kennel owner) came out and started talking about what a wonderful little dog she is . . . a great boarder, never messed in her run once - always waited until she got outside, quiet and well-behaved, then said that he wouldn't mind keeping her himself! You'd have to know Jeff to know how high this praise is . . . Jeff is a professional groomer and handler, and definitely prefers purebred dogs - he was quite taken with Tootsie! Of course, you can imagine the look on Smokey's face . . . I told Jeff I thought he'd have to fight for her, and Smokey said "Yep!"

Back for a short visit at out house, Smokey carried Tootsie up the stairs to the front door, then put her down inside. She bounced around the living room sniffing everything, checking out the toys, testing the furniture, then spotted the doggie door (which has a clear flap). She looked outside for a few seconds, but obviously didn't know how to use a doggie door, as she went back to exploring the inside of the house. She bounced and wagged her tail, and was clearly comfortable and ready to play.

We grabbed the cameras and headed out in the back yard. She wandered around the yard sniffing all the scents of two other dogs, but didn't immediately start running as I expected. We decided to let Boogie come out to play, but kept Scooch inside just to avoid any potential upsets. Tootsie seemed a little shy at first, but Boogie is such a friendly, playful dog that it wasn't long before the two of them were running around the yard, having a great time. Boogie decided that he needed to herd Tootsie, so she got a very fast tour of all of the corners of the yard with Boogie barking directions.

Later it was time to leave, and Smokey opened the side door of his van which was already cooled down. Tootsie just stood there looking in, but wasn't ready to jump in this time. I think she'd just had too many car rides to nowhere in the last few days , and she'd enjoyed our house, the yard and Boogie. I picked her up and put her in, and she sniffed the food and toy, then sat on the sleeping bag as if she knew it had been put there for her comfort!

With a lot of hugs, handshakes, a request for an e-mail when they are safely home, and more than a few tears in everyone's eyes, we watched Smokey and Tootsie drive away, knowing that this was truly meant to be.

Diane Tennchief@worldnet.att.net