A Stupendous Boy

I know I've mentioned this guy before from time to time, but I had a conversation with one of my etsy customers yesterday that compelled me to mention him again.  She had recently lost her Border Collie and had purchased one of my cards as a tribute to her late companion.  Before I tell you how these cards came to be, allow me to back up for a minute.  The cards were a tribute, not just to Nick, but to all great dogs everywhere.  Nick came into our lives almost completely by accident.  He was a rescue--"found" in a rowhouse in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia with his three brothers, about 30 other dogs and 80 cats.  It was just about the worst animal hoarding situation I had ever heard of.  Suffering from sarcoptic mange, the animals were distributed to various shelters and rescues.  Nick and his brothers made their way to Mid Atlantic Border Collie rescue, a group we had adopted Zoe from a couple years earlier.  Zoe is in the background of this photo and it says a lot about her.  She prefers to be in the background and detests having her picture taken.  When she came to us (she has her own story) she was a neurotic mess.  Afraid of absolutely everything but other animals, we worked hard to socialize her and ease her fears, but we could only bring her so far.  She needed another dog in the house.  She needed cannon fodder.  She needed Nick.  Nick fears NOTHING and I really, really mean that.  He is awesome and he knows it.  Life and everything and just about everyone is also awesome as far as he is concerned.  The director of the rescue thought he was just what Zoe needed and she needed to get him out of her facility.  Because of his mange, he was quarantined outside.  By December, he had recovered, grew some of his hair back and needed to be inside and learn some manners.  The problem was LAM.  He didn't think we needed another dog.  We agreed to "foster" Nick, with hopes that the match would stick.  Needless to say, he never left.  We named him "Quick Nick" after BMW Formula One driver Nick Heidfeld (and because we got him at Christmastime, it seemed to fit).  He also, like all Border Collies, runs insanely fast.

Since Nick feels compelled to participate in every human activity that there is to offer, I bought him this costume to help me pass out candy on Halloween.  I'm not a big fan of dressing dogs, but he absolutely revels in wearing his "supersuit".  I suspect all of the neighborhood kids going ga-ga over him may have something to do with it.  When I took this picture, I couldn't get over how full of himself he looked and that gave birth to the following drawing:

Which turned into a greeting card...

And a fridge magnet.  Sadly, I don't know many people who have magnetic refrigerators anymore, but they stick great on office filing cabinets!

Since putting these up in my etsy shop, I have received so many wonderful letters and messages from customers letting me know how much they enjoy the image, either in tribute to a companion who has passed or as a reminder of one who is still with them.  Not surprisingly, many of them are rescues.  I treasure each and every comment that I receive and always love hearing stories about other people's pets and the wonderful things they bring to all of our lives.

~ESM