It happens sometimes that we get the perfect dog for us, the dog that fits into our life like a glove fits a hand, the dog that gets us and that we get. On the surface, a crazy border collie from Wales might not seem to perfectly match an intense, interior artist who holes up in a studio for hours every day converting her imagination into art that people buy and love.

Maria vanishes into her own world for many hours at a time, her dog Fate is everywhere at once, in constant motion, missing nothing, hearing everything, desperate to work and run every minute of her life.

Yet the two are a wonderful match, Maria says every day that Fate is the perfect dog for her, and this is a happy, intensely-connected dog. I think the core of their connection is the sweetness that is at the center of both of them, they are viscerally loving, complex, restless and positive creatures.

Maria loves to walk in the woods, so does Fate. We have sheep to tend to an Fate gets to fulfill her border collie destiny with Red several times a day. She gets to run until her tongue is hanging off the ground, then she gets to snuggle up in Maria’s studio in the cold winter wind, chewing on her bones, nuzzling Maria, and just being with her human, which ever great dog loves to do.

Maria is never annoyed with Fate’s energy and restlessness, and Fate seems to grasp those times when Maria is lost in her art and must focus on it. They get one another.

The two reflect one another – in their big hearts, restlessness, love of nature, and patience with one another. Each understands and accepts the other’s craziness, Fate follows Maria around everywhere, loves to ride with her, walk with her sit with her (in between, she loves to crawl into my lap and wrestle). Just as Red is the perfect dog for me, Fate is the perfect dog for Maria.

I couldn’t have predicted that, but watching it unfold every day is a joy, another happy chapter in my rich life with dogs.