Blue (a beautiful Bluetick) came into our life unexpectedly in 1995. Our 16-year-old son, Chris, found him wandering around in the fields in our neighborhood. It took Chris a while to be able to get close enough to put a leash on him but he did and Blue was brought to our house. He had a collar on with a phone number on it and we called the fellow who owned him but he wouldn’t come and pick him up despite our efforts. It seems that Blue was not a great hunting dog…. he’d run away when he was turned loose and his owner was tired of it. That is how we came to own this dog.

Blue wanted NOTHING to do with any human…NOTHING! We never had a dog we couldn’t pet and it took a full year of my husband working with him for Blue to trust us. Over the years, Blue became the best hunter my husband had. You couldn’t walk into the back yard without Blue running up to you to be petted and loved. If you sat outside, he wanted to crawl into you lap. He was one of the most loving animals we ever had and we always have at least 8 dogs running around at all times. The relationship he and my husband had was always special.

The hardest decision my husband had to make was to have Blue put down in October 2007. He sat on the floor with Blue in his arms for hours talking to him and crying. I’m crying as I write this. All three of my sons and my husband cried for two weeks and still do when we speak about him. We were so lucky to have had him for 12 years. That rescued dog was loved beyond most people’s comprehension.

Mary Jane from NC