This week I will introduce my big dog, Ranger, to you. He is a Gollie (Golden Retriever-Collie Mix), very gentle and laid back.

I first met Ranger, when I cleaned a house on a farm in a small town north of Fort Worth. The lady of the house wanted me to help her with the house cleaning bi-weekly. About four weeks after I met Ranger, she introduced me to her fifth dog, Olivia, a cute little Border Collie puppy. Olivia was so sweet. The lady said, her husband found the dog. And they have way too many dogs on the farm. I put a little bit of thought into it, and I made her an offer to adopt Olivia. She then said she couldn’t give me Olivia, because her husband always wanted a Border Collie. And what is the chance that one walks straight to him on a field?

I remembered that she did introduce me to one of her horses two weeks earlier, and Ranger (back then his name was ‘Butcha’) walked towards me, sat down and put his paw on my leg. I talked to him for a little bit: “Hi, how are you! You are so handsome!” I mentioned to the lady, if he ever becomes a daddy, I want one of the puppies. He’s so gentle and sweet. She laughed and said: “Good luck with that! He’s fixed!” Now, I had to laugh, too. He didn’t get out of my mind, while I was cleaning. And I also kept watching him, playing with the other dogs in the yard.

Back to the day, when the house lady introduced me to Olivia, I asked: “So, what about Butcha?” She looked at me with wide open eyes: “Are you sure, your family will be okay with a big dog?” I called Kevin, had a little conversation with him about Butcha and asked him, if he was okay with me bring home a Golden Retriever-Collie.” He didn’t agree immediately, and he had his doubt, that this big dog has enough room to run around in our backyard. But he replied: “I’ll leave it up to you!” After I hung up, I said to her: “I’ll take Butcha!” “Okay, Butcha it is! Let me bring him to the groomers, so he can show himself from his best side to your family.” She told me his life story, which included that he already had several pre-owners in his young life; and he got shot with a pellet gun by her mom’s neighbor in Mississippi, before he ended up on her farm here in Texas.

We put Butcha in the back of my SUV. Before I left with him, I told her his name would be ‘Ranger’. She was still uncertain if this was a good idea. She wanted to make sure everyone in my family was okay with the new member. I assured him as good as I could, that he would finally have a good life and would stay with us. He’s a very good dog, which needs a good fur-ever home.

I arrived with Ranger at home. My neighbor from across the street saw the new dog and asked: “Does Kevin know about this big dog?” I nodded and told him; Kevin was okay with the new pet. I let Ranger in the house, called Lexi, and something crazy happened. Usually, I see dogs sniffing each other’s rear end, maybe growl a couple of times at each other, and take their sweet time to warm up at one another. But Lexi and Ranger both sat down across from each other. And Lexi fell in love at first sight. She tilted her head, looked all cute as she wanted to say: “Hi handsome! I’m Lexi! What’s your name?” Ranger drooled, tried to put himself together and probably stumbled: “Hi, my name is … Butcha … hm … I’m sorry, I can’t remember my new name! … But … you are soooo beautiful!” “Thank you Butcha or what your new name might be. We will figure it out later, I guess! Want to go into the backyard?” she asked. “Sure … sure, why not? I would love to see the backyard!” he replied. Both walked out to the patio, and Lexi introduced Ranger to her world.

When Kevin and Katelynn came home, I showed them the new dog. Ranger put his paw on Katelynn’s shoulder and touched her nose with his nose. It scared her for a moment, because there was a big dog with big eyes and a big nose all of a sudden. Everything on this dog was much bigger than Lexi. But things turned around quickly. And Katelynn tumbled all over Ranger, while he laid there patiently like a big plush animal. Kevin was still concerned a little bit. He was still not sure if the yard was big enough for Ranger. I said: “He’ll be alright!”

We adopted Ranger in Spring 2006. Now, Ranger will be ten years old. He is still with us. He and Lexi are still ‘a couple’. And he loves the backyard to this day forward.

(March 2015)

Ranger (2005 – 2016)