Text Box: The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too. --Samuel Butler In early February 2004, I was asked by Barbara if I could make a run down to Mobile, Alabama to pickup up a new rescue Collie. After looking at my calendar and rearranging some things I made arrangements to meet on Friday February 13. When I got to the meeting point, I was greeted by a magnificent sable and white Collie named Ranger. I had seen some pictures of him and thought that he was a handsome fellow but I had no idea what Barbara was planning. He was wearing a bandana with hearts all over it and had a large heart hanging from his collar. Jan told me Happy Valentine’s Day from my wife and that Ranger was a surprise present from my wife. I was almost speechless since I was not expecting this. Ranger took to me immediately and rubbed his head against me and was very eager to shake hands. It turns out that Barbara had been searching for a special collie for me for about a month. In mid-January, Reagan, a very striking blue merle, who was a gift from Barbara has suddenly passed away. I had only had him a little over five months when he passed over to Rainbow Bridge. Barbara had looked long and hard for a blue merle to replace Ulysses, a white Collie with blue merle markings that I had for over ten years. I just wanted to thank Barbara, Jan and Karen and all the other rescue people who helped to bring Ranger into my life. Not only is he a stunning collie, he has also a very gentle and loving personality. He follows me around the house and awaits for my return by the door. Since he has helped to fill the void caused by the loss of Reagan and Ulysses, I selected the old Blood, Sweet and Tears song, “You made me so very happy” as the background music for this page..