I remember Red’s first day well. Mandy Meyer-Hill, a friend and the owner of Stairway Healing Arts drove to Virginia with her daughter Marleigh to pick Red up from Dr. Karen Thompson. They left early in the morning – Karen watching silently from a distance – and they drove all day. When Red arrived, he was, as usual, eager but confused. He bonded with Mandy and Marleigh and then I took him for a walk on the path. After a few yards, he became confused, turned and ran back to the house at Bedlam Farm. I realized I had pushed him too quickly. I followed him – he was behind the farmhouse, looking for Mandy I think and I called him to me and sat with him. I brought him into the yard and left him there for awhile with the other dogs.

Then I leash-walked  him a few times, gave him treats, spoke his name. He was calm but anxious. I know dogs are supposed to grieve, but I  saw no sign of grief over the human he loved and worked with every day. Karen told me to take him to sheep and the rest would take its course. The next morning, I looked out the window and saw one of those very beautiful and magical Bedlam Farm sunrises. I rushed downstairs, got him out of his crate, and we walked across the road to the meadow. I opened the gate and we both walked out towards the sheep. Red was transformed in front of me, he went into his crouch, his ears went up, his tail down. He looked like a wolf to me, and Karen was, of course, right. We bonded at that moment and since then, Red follows me, watches me, obeys every command instantly.

We worked the sheep several times that day, and I learned the commands that Red was used to, watched how he responded, where he walked, sat, how he took off, the distance he kept from the sheep. And he began to know me, to listen to my commands, to understand my movements. Red’s first day began beautifully and I remember it clearly.

It ended with another walk in the woods, Red off leash. We walked for a mile into those woods and I knew at the end of the day that this was the dog I had been waiting for.