All Creatures Great & Small

Years ago, I had a dog named Cerberus. He was a full-blooded Irish Setter. Setters were very popular when Richard Nixon was the president. He was a wonderful dog who enjoyed going for rides with his head sticking out of the car window, ears flapping in the wind. I used to call this “streamlining.”

About fourteen years ago, I acquired a male Border Collie named Herk. Herk passed away last year, but at fourteen years of age he was also a streamliner. My female Border Collie, The Baby, never really went in for streamlining though.

After Herk’s passing, and with a little time, my wife and I decided to purchase a new puppy from a lady in Sacramento. The first people I called to find a good Border Collie pup were Merle and Sandi Newton, owners of The Crystal Rose Cow Dog College near Red Bluff, CA. I had met Merle and Sandi years before, and had partially trained one of my Border Collies with them.

As it turned out, the Newton’s knew of a litter that was at the perfect age for adoptions. The lady who owned the litter, Sheri Forrest, was very particular as to whom she would sell a puppy. The Newton’s recommendation was the only way we would have had a chance to get such a good dog. And I do mean good dog. Both of the parents, also owned by Sheri Forrest, were champion herding dogs.

How do you pick a puppy from a litter as perfect as this one? It was difficult. We pondered each dog for several hours it seemed, but in the end we chose the one with a pink nose! We named him Dart.

Dart began sheep and cattle dog training with the Newtons almost immediately. From the beginning, Merle and Sandi knew that we had a special dog. I can remember Merle saying to me, “You know that you don’t have just any old Border Collie here don’t you?” And as a pet, we just simply fell in love with our little Dart. And surprise, surprise: he was a streamliner too!

Dart is smart. He can run fast. His aerial exploits while catching Frisbees is a phenomena to watch. He also possesses a unique ability to squeeze through very tight places. At five months old, he managed to get himself under a chain link fence gate with only a four or five inch clearance. I was dumbfounded when I realized he could do this.

The Newtons are such special people. This is really a story about them. Merle and Sandi are the closest humans to being true dog whisperers that I have ever known. Merle and Sandi are also quite spiritual, as am I, but not in the religious context that might place me in the company of many over bearing Christians. I am fond of saying that the only thing wrong with Christianity is Christians. I have spent much of my life in Church, but have seen far too much of the darker side that exists within many of these institutions. But make no mistake, I am still a believer, judge me if you will.

Tragedy struck this morning. My wife and I woke up to take our beloved Dart to his Saturday lesson at The Crystal Rose Cow Dog College. It’s a forty-five minute drive to Red Bluff for us, and the Newton’s live about thirty minutes west of town. They are just past the electrical grid. The road is very rural all the way. Towards the end of the journey, it is very isolated and there is no cell phone service. Sensing that we were almost there, Dart perked up! He was ready to do some herding. It was a wonderful morning, so we opened the rear windows of our car just a little bit, as we have done in the past. We are always careful to open the window just a little bit, about four or five inches. It’s beautiful thing to see a dog having so much fun! Then, in an instant, he was gone. I heard a faint yelp, slammed on the brakes, and I saw him in the rear view mirror limping, running back towards home.

I had to get into the car and chase him for a quarter of a mile to head him off. When I caught him, it was obvious he was severely injured. I picked him up, put him in the car, and began to drive to Crystal Rose. “Where are you going,” my wife enquired. I said that I was going to Merle and Sandi’s. She suggested turning around and going straight to the vet. Instinctively, I sensed that we needed to go to the Newton’s.

When I arrived, Merle was working cattle with an Australian Shepard named Alice, a client’s dog. I jumped out and shouted to Merle that Dart had fallen out of the car and that I was afraid that he was severely injured. I told him I was going straight to the vet.

Now, for those of you who have never met Merle, or Sandi for that matter, you have no idea how special and gifted these people are. They both possess instincts that allow them to understand a situation, size it up, and know what to do where animals are concerned. I really did not know that their instincts might run even deeper. Merle immediately said, “Let’s lift Dart out of the car and lay him on the ground.” We did that. His six-foot plus frame knelt over our five and a half month old puppy. Then, the most amazing thing happened: Merle said, “We need to pray for this dog." He rolled Dart to his side and placed his hands on Dart’s ribs and began by asking the Lord to come to the aid of this dog. "You made him perfect and he is perfect now. There is nothing wrong with this dog that cannot be healed by you.” I am paraphrasing because you just don’t really write things down at a moment like this.

I could feel an unmistakable power in Merle’s actions. He told us to think and be positive. And then he mentioned the pragmatic advice to take Dart to the best veterinary clinic near town. We used Sandi’s phone, up at the house, and we did just that.

A laying-on-of-hands was an unexpected thing, especially for an animal. I had never seen it, yet Merle instinctively knew that Dart was in dire straits and in need of Supernatural intervention. As I have reflected on this today, I realize he may have been right.

Dart turned out to have a broken pelvis, broken right at the left hip joint, not a good location. But, the good news was that the brake would not need to be reset. It was already “miraculously” in place. It appeared that the ball and socket joint of the hip was also intact. Dart’s leg was immobilized, and he was sent home with us for six to eight weeks of convalescence.

I can remember thinking to myself, “Well, this must have been another prayer that God had not heard.” This injury could end Dart’s chances at being a champion cattle dog. I tend to see the negative when it comes to God sometimes.

But, while shopping at Rayles this afternoon, it hit me: What if Dart’s injury was actually more severe? What if the brake was badly misaligned? What if his hip joint was destroyed? What if his pelvis was shattered? The vet did say that it was a "miracle" that the brake did not need to be set; that it was perfectly aligned and that immobilizing it for a few weeks might just do the trick. It hit me: what if a miracle really did happen already?

Then, everything that I have just relayed to you came pouring forth from my wife’s mouth. She asked me all of the same questions that I was also thinking right at that time. I looked at her and asked, “What made you think of these questions right now?” I wonder, was it God’s little subtle communication to us? When God has spoken to me in the past, it has been through subtleties, not through voices or anything like that.

So, tonight, I sit at home with a convalescing Border Collie named Dart. He is still with us; alive and banged up a little. We both feel as though Dart still has a career in the herding business. Merle and Sandi said to stay positive, so we will do that. And, maybe, just maybe, we will trust in the Lord a little more from now on. The Newtons are far too humble to accept any credit for Dart’s stroke of luck, but I truly do feel that without the two of them, we may have had to say goodbye to our little friend today.

I can still vividly see the strong hands of grace laying on my terribly injured Collie and calling upon God himself to protect him and heal him. It’s a sight I will never forget. The Lord works in mysterious ways.