The Tale of Digby
May 2006

More Photos Here

This is another easy story to tell. The week before I lost my job I had gone to PetSmart to get another indestructible Nylabone frisbee for my beloved WallStreet. It just happened to be pet adoption day at PetSmart and they had an adorable shepherd mix there. Knowing how hectic my schedule was with the server problems at work, plus the fact that Laurie's Dad, Ted was in the hospital it was not a good time to get another pet. He certainly pulled on my heart strings though.

When I got home, my wife asked if I had gotten the frisbee and I told her, "Yes, I did. And I almost came home with a puppy." She relied, "Why didn't you?" I replied, "We have a lot going on right now, don't you think?" She gave me the look that caused me to fall in love with her and replied, "If you wanted it, you should have gotten it. It will surely be gone if you don't. Why don't you call them?" So, I called PetSmart and was told that they were gone for the day. "Where are they from?", I asked. "Benyld, Illinois, was the answer. I thought, where the hell is that? Thanked the lady and said goodbye.

Well, four days later, my schedule got a whole lot lighter. So, I decided I would check out Petsmart that weekend to see if that little doggie was still in the window. I went there and saw a lot of cute dogs but nothing I couldn't live without. I then saw the sign BENYLD ANIMAL RESCUE. I was like,wow, maybe they will know if the dog was adopted? I explained the animal to the lady and she knew which litter I was talking about. I figured, he was adopted out. To my suprise, she replied, "Oh, that litter, what's left of them is at the Glen Carbon, IL store. Since they didn't get adopted down here, we are trying them up there.

Ok, so with my niece Molly and son Luke in tow, we drove up to Glen carbon. I looked and looked and didn't find any of the litter in any of the crates. So, out of a last step of desperation, I explained the above to the nice elderly volunteer. She stepped aside and said, "Do you mean these?" She was blocking a shopping cart with the last two of the four pups. My skin tingled and a wave of relieve came over me as I locked eyes with the little honey colored shepherd mix in the shopping cart.

Now came the test, do I REALLY want this animal? He was so thin and so frightened. I asked about the litter and was told that they were found in a ditch on the side of a road. I felt sorry for the skinny little thing and held him. He shed terribly all over me. All the while, Luke is saying, "I want that one", a black boxer mix that was jumping and wagging his tail in a crate across the aisle. I decided to put the puppy into another top-open crate to see how he did with another dog. Immediately he was attacked by the other pup but my little puppy held his own but was not overly agressive. So, he did have some fight left in him. And that was that.

Interestingly enough, while we where there, we talked another lady into taking home the last puppy of the litter. She really liked it but did not want another dog. We convinced her she would be a good playmate to their other dog.

So, I kinda rescued two puppies in one day. And rescued some of my sanity back from losing my job in the process.

PS. By the way, What kind of a name is DIGBY? Well, actually it an old Norse word which means town by the ditch. We thought it appropriate.